«European Network to Promote Women’s Entrepreneurship»
(WES )
Activities Report 2006
December 2007
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Aims of the Report
1.2
WES’ aims
1.3
WES’ activities in 2006
1.4
Main findings
2.
ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT IN THE EU, EEA AND CANDIDATE
COUNTRIES TO PROMOTE FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
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Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
The Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Turkey
United Kingdom
ANNEX 1: List of WES members
2
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1
Aims of the Report
This is the third Report drafted by WES1, the “European Network to Promote
Women’s Entrepreneurship”. It is aimed at detailing the activities carried out in 2006
by the national and/or regional governments in the EU, EEA and candidate countries
to promote women’s entrepreneurship. Twenty seven WES member countries have
contributed to this report.
Following the priority areas indicated in the Competitiveness and Innovation
Programme adopted by the Commission in 2006, most of the contributions are
focused on the issues of “Access to finance” and “Networking”.
However, many of the WES members also reported on additional activities that were
considered to be priorities in their countries.
A few countries apply a mainstreaming approach and integrate these measures into
general support policies in favour of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
They don’t have the activities reported by gender which means that the information
from these countries are very limited.
Furthermore, the WES network decided to include all of the statistics concerning
women entrepreneurship that were available in each country also in this third report.
The aim is to be able to follow the development of the numbers of entrepreneurs and
the development of gender divided statistics and thereby make the contribution of
women entrepreneurs to society more visible.
It is also aiming to increase awareness of the large proportion that women
entrepreneurs represent in the area of entrepreneurship. However, we can also see
from these figures that there is more to be done.
1.2
WES’ aims
The main aims of WES are to raise the visibility of existing women entrepreneurs and
to create a climate that is favourable to increasing the number of women
entrepreneurs and the size of existing women-led businesses.
WES is a network which was initiated by Sweden and was set up and launched by
Commissioner Liikanen in June 2000.
It is composed of government representatives responsible for the promotion of
women entrepreneurship in their countries.
WES currently has 30 members from the European Union, EEA and candidate
countries2.
From its creation in 2000, WES has actively co-operated with the European
Commission in the implementation of activities that concern the promotion of
women’s entrepreneurship, such as research, collection of information, exchange of
good practices, etc. WES was therefore fully involved in the Best project “Promoting
1
2
www.europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/entrepreneurship/craft/craft-women/wes.htm
See list of members in annex 1
3
entrepreneurship amongst women”3 carried out by Enterprise and Industry
Directorate General in 2002 and 2003. In particular, its members provided advice,
support, information and contacts regarding the existing support measures for
women entrepreneurs and helped in the identification of good practices.
1.3
WES’ activities in 2006
The importance of the network is often highlighted by delegates mentioning WES as
the only European platform to exchange national policy information on women
entrepreneurs as well as a valuable contact for cross-border visits and cooperation.
In 2006 the WES network has contributed significantly to increase knowledge about
women’s entrepreneurship in the large number of Member States. Apart from the
activities carried out at National and Regional level which are described in the next
chapter, WES members participated in several European events, were involved in
joint projects and followed up an important number of information requests and
networking contacts from all over the world.
Contacts and questions about co-operation and information are frequent and the
WES network is very useful for directing and informing about national good examples
and projects.
The co-ordinator has informed about and represented WES in different events such
as national and regional conferences about women entrepreneurship, networking
and microfinance in e.g. Ireland, Italy and Spain.
The co-operation with “W.IN.NET” (European Network of Women Resource Centres)
has also continued and joint events and meetings about women entrepreneurship
and regional development were discussed.
Furthermore, WES network meetings give an opportunity for member countries to
exchange information, receive the latest news from the European Commission and
from the European Parliament, give information about news from the work of different
researchers and last but not least enable participants to discuss and develop working
methods and knowledge with colleagues.
1.4
Main findings 2006
From the WES report 2006 I have made some reflections and I can start with saying
that women own approximately 20-25% of start-up enterprises in all countries.
That is an important amount of all entrepreneurs but still too few regarding that
women are half of the population, so supporting women’s entrepreneurship is very
important in order to reach the goals of the Lisbon strategy.
Conciliation of private and professional life as well as flexicurity is identified as the
two basic social difficulties that women entrepreneurs face in Europe.
In order to benchmark, inspire and disseminate good examples I find this report from
the members of WES very useful.
Some of the basic findings of the annual activity report are:
3
www.europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/entrepreneurship/craft/craft-women/bestprojectwomen.htm
4
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There is a north-south dimension that seems to be based on the presence or
absence of public/private social care e.g. childcare and elderly care. For
example in Austria and Bulgaria childcare is lacking but this is also seen as a
business opportunity to create new women entrepreneurs.
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The policies used to support women entrepreneurs in different countries
depend on the situation of women in that particular country; in nations where
women’s unemployment rate is high, entrepreneurship often seems to be seen
as a way to empower women and encourage them to start their own
businesses.
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Market analysis should look at entrepreneurs’ growth during the whole life
circle of the business.
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Micro businesses should also be examined to identify potential and support
growth.
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Support for first employee and business succession should be a priority.
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In some countries ethnic minority women entrepreneurs emerge as a new
area of female entrepreneurship that needs to be addressed.
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Women business diversity should be examined: there is a link between startups or growth of business and micro, small or ethnic enterprises.
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Post start-up support for female business is necessary. It is therefore of the
utmost importance to take the main part of the group of all entrepreneurs
(SMEs) and to divide these according to sex and industry so that it is possible
to decide on how to support different groups of entrepreneurs.
Here are some more reflections of tools and new programmes for supporting women
entrepreneurship that inspired me when reading the reports from the members from
different countries.
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A new programme of ‘substitute entrepreneur’: women who are trained to
substitute another entrepreneur who is on sick or family leave. In Iceland and
Finland there is a database of substitute women entrepreneurs according to
areas of specialisation.
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Financing. Micro financing for women remains a problem in many countries. It
is difficult to make banks show an interest due to the high administrative costs.
With regard to the issue of access to finance, the micro-credit programmes
aimed at women entrepreneurs in Finland, Spain can be taken as good
examples to be replicated elsewhere.
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On-line consulting and coaching and self-diagnostic tests for potential women
entrepreneurs.
5
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Substitute entrepreneurs’ training and database.
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Internet platform for networking, mentoring and training.
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Virtual classrooms to receive vocational qualifications
In the report you can also read more about the findings mentioned above for
supporting women entrepreneurs in different countries.
The main findings of this report will be used for planning the forthcoming work of
WES and to inform and develop methods for even better support for women
entrepreneurs in order to get more start-up’s and support growth of already existing
businesses owned by women.
Finally, I would like to thank the European Commission and DG Enterprise and
Industry and all WES members who have been involved in the work on this report
and I am looking forward to be able to follow some of the projects more closely.
Marianne Karlberg
WES co-ordinator
6
2. ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT IN THE EU, EEA AND CANDIDATE
COUNTRIES TO PROMOTE FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
AUSTRIA
A. Statistics
Since 1996 the percentage of female start-ups has increased by 10%. In 2006
24,311 people established an enterprise, of which 37.4% were women in comparison
to 27.3% (14,796) in 1996. In 2006 about 31.8% of all Austrian enterprises were
managed by women. The average age of female entrepreneurs is 44.9 years.
A survey, initiated by “Women in Business” (AFEC) and the Federal Ministry for
Health and Women, was published in March 2006. It shows the representation of
women in leading roles in Austrian enterprises: 16% from enterprises with more than
50 employees are led by female managing directors and 3% by female members of
the managing board. 83% of Austrian companies have at least one woman in a
leading position. More than 30% of all companies have more than three female
leaders.
B. Good Practices
The activities in place to promote female entrepreneurship in Austria, in both the
public and the private sector, can be summarised as follows:
Self-employment is going to be one of the most valuable alternatives on the job
market for women with caring obligations and perhaps the only one in some cases –
especially for women with home-supervision duties in rural or border areas. The
EQUAL Project Alternative: Self Employment4 aims to achieve the following goals:
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Development of new financing methods concerning micro loans on the basis
of the results of trans-national and national co-operation;
Collection of basic criteria for the success for women with child-care
obligations;
Creation of ‘fundamentals for enterprises by women’, for women with child
care obligations;
Technical and social qualification of the participants;
Creation of a mentoring programme for newly self-employed women.
Special Training for Female-led Micro Businesses without Employees started
successfully in 2006: Due to a unique combination of training and coaching, femaleled micro enterprises which have existed for 3 years at the most, improved their
business strategies within a special academy. The main content of the curriculum
comprises making business plans, marketing, sales, cooperation/networking and
work-life-balance. The project has been highly successful: so far around 50 alumni
have participated.
4
http://www.alternative-selbststaendigkeit.at
7
In 2003, EUROCHAMBRES Women Network started implementing positive actions
in favour of female entrepreneurs with the project “Women in Business and in
Decision Making” followed by “CHASE – Chambers against Stereotypes in
Employment” in 2004. The network initiated in 2007 its third project “Women on
Board of Local Development”5 - in short “On Board” - in which the Austrian
Federal Economic Chamber - Women in Business has assumed the role of the
project leader of the working group “Women on Board of local development”. The
other project partners are the Milan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Central
Chamber of Commerce of Finland, The Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Schwerin. The objective of the
working group is the development of guidelines in order to increase the presence of
women on Chamber boards, to promote female participation at other local and
regional Chambers, as well as at national level and other EU Chambers. The findings
of the project should in the long term, lead to an increase of the number of female
Chamber board members and as a consequence result in a higher presence of
women in Chamber boards and to a higher awareness of female business
objectives.
“Women in Business” introduced the ‘Betriebshilfe’ (business continuation aid)
throughout Austria where as a relief for small companies a qualified replacement
for the entrepreneur is made available temporarily, if she becomes unfit for work in
the event of an accident or during maternity leave, etc. With this service the
entrepreneur’s living can be secured. About 500 assignments a year are required.
‘Unternehmerin’ is the quarterly periodical published by Women in Business which
offers information on current topics and a lot of practical advice for female
entrepreneurs.
Events such as the ‘Ladies Lounge’ are organised for female entrepreneurs,
managing directors and wives working in their husbands’ enterprises four times a
year. This event offers to the participants the possibility to discuss important issues
with a high-grade personality from politics or economy and also provides the chance
of networking and of exchanging ideas.
One of our future projects concerns the demand that home help becomes taxdeductible6.
“Women in Business” also demands afternoon-care for school children on a
voluntary basis rather than all-day school. This would enable female entrepreneurs to
spend their free afternoons with their children. It also asks for support for female
entrepreneurs managing a ‘single-person company’ wanting to employ the first
staff member. This should be realised with the help of an expert in combination with
coaching.
5
6
http://portal.wko.at/wk/startseite_dst.wk?angid=1&dstid=8469
http://www.betreuungspraemie.at
8
BELGIUM
A. Statistics
On the federal level, the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men was created by
the law of 16/12/2002 (published in the Belgian Monitor of 31/12/2002). The mission
to guarantee and promote the equality of women and men and to fight against any
form of discrimination and inequality based on gender in all aspects of life through
the development and implementation of an adequate legal framework, appropriate
structures, strategies, instruments and actions.
The Institute for the Equality of Women and Men have published in 2006 news
statistics about “Woman and Men in Belgium” available on www.iefh.fgov.be (in
French and Dutch).
More information about female entrepreneurship is available on www.amazone.be
(thematic files: Diane – the focus on female enterprise).
B. Good Practices
Several studies on the issue have shown the importance of initiatives leading to
more female entrepreneurs.
Knowing that in Belgium, the percentage of
unemployed women is higher than that of men (10% against 14,7%), one can
measure to what extent the establishment of enterprises by women constitutes a
leverage for the combat against unemployment. The fact that women mostly invest
themselves in the SME (Small and Medium-size Enterprises) – a key sector of the
Belgian economy – is moreover encouraging for the feminine professional activity. In
Belgium, SME provide and occupy 56 % of the employment in the private sector.
They provide a considerable potential of jobs, not only for women entrepreneurs but
also for other women in the local communities where the new businesses pursue
their activities. Companies headed by women do in fact tend to recruit women.
Furthermore, they install more often flexible working hours, increasing in that way the
prospects of employment for other women.
Besides the economic and financial obstacles, the measures provided for the
establishment of enterprises don't take sufficiently into account the specific needs
of women. Generally, women have a more limited access to information than their
male colleagues. They are less numerous in affiliating themselves to professional
organizations, to business networks or in joining private clubs, and this means they
have less professional contacts. They are accustomed to rely only upon themselves
and will have to learn that collaborating with other professionals in their sector is
crucial for the success of their enterprise.
The persisting attitude that the career of the husband nearly always takes priority
over that of the wife contributes to the fact that women are not taken seriously in
the world of enterprise.
The ‘Diane’ project will essentially look at the establishment and the development of
enterprises by women, and by doing so, wants to contribute to equal opportunities
between women and men. Its main aim is to bring more balance to a sector which is
still mainly occupied by men and to offer better living conditions to the women who
have already established a business and to those who want to start one.
9
In 2006, Diane has worked on the female entrepreneurs in the media.
What is the image of female entrepreneurs in the media? And if necessary, how can
it be improved? SEIN, the Institute for Behavioural Sciences of the UHasselt, was
commissioned by Markant VZW to study the trends in the conceptualisation of female
entrepreneurs on the basis of the analysis of press articles and TV programmes. This
in-depth study fits into the framework of the EQUAL programme, Empowering
Female Entrepreneurs.
Research method
Sixty-nine articles from women’s magazines, economically oriented periodicals and
the general press, as well as three TV programmes about entrepreneurship were
studied with respect to the image they project of female entrepreneurs. For three
economically oriented periodicals (Trends, Bizz, Zelfstandig Ondernemen) a number
of articles and images were included in order to determine the male/female ratio.
Results: clear difference in premise and approach
The image shown by women’s magazines of female entrepreneurs differs from that in
the general and economically oriented press. First and foremost the articles have a
different premise. The most frequent premise in general is “Entrepreneurship”
(present in 65% of the studied articles), with a somewhat smaller presence in
women’s magazines. The latter emphasise family and household, and more often
feature female entrepreneurs from the cultural and entertainment world (fashion is
also included). The remaining press rather opts for a one-sided economic approach,
with little attention to other aspects in the life of the female entrepreneur. Gender, to
be broadly interpreted as a coordinating term for issues experienced by women in the
corporate world in this study, is the third topic featured in the non-female oriented
press after entrepreneurship and economy, albeit in only 21% of the studied articles.
A second difference between women’s magazines and the remaining press is the
way in which female entrepreneurs are allowed to speak. Of the 46 female
entrepreneurs featured in the articles in women’s magazines, 42 are allowed to
speak (91%): they are interviewed, share their opinion, experiences and are often
quoted literally. In the remaining press this is only true for 23 out of the 69 female
entrepreneurs featured (33%).
On the field of “best practices”, during the year 2006, two very important things on
the fields on gender mainstreaming :
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others Ministries bring their place (on the federal level Sabine Laruelle as
Ministry of Economy and in the 3 regions too);
new projects with Belgian partners are supported by different programs :
Diane/EFE in Equal, AFFA in ESF, WomEN2 in FP6, ELFE in Interreg,
Fostering Gender Equality : meeting the entrepreneurship and microfinance
challenge in the European strategy on equal opportunities, etc.
10
BULGARIA
A. Statistics
According to the National Statistics Institute figures, since 2003 the relative share of
women entrepreneurs has been about one-third of the surveyed population of small
and medium-sized companies. The percentage of women entrepreneurs in the
total number of self-employed persons is 37.7 per cent7.
According to data from the survey ‘The Place of the Bulgarian Woman in United
Europe’, women entrepreneurs and managers in Bulgaria are about 60.000. The
distribution of employed persons in companies managed by women entrepreneurs is:
• 82 per cent manage companies with up to 9 employees;
• 15.5 per cent manage small companies (10-49 employees);
• 2.5 per cent manage medium-sized companies with up to 249 employees.
A sustainable trend is observed in the profile of women-managed companies by
number of employees. The distribution of women-managed enterprises by industry
sectors is:
32 per sent in services; 16 per cent in the public sector; 17.43 per cent in trade; and
3.18 per cent in the health sector.
Bulgarian business women are highly educated, and even take the lead over women
entrepreneurs in EU Member States – 62.97 % of Bulgarian women entrepreneurs
have higher education and 35.14 % have secondary education.
The profile of the women entrepreneurs in Bulgaria shows that 72 % are married,
with children. Employees do not have different attitudes to employers with different
genders. About 85 % of the business ladies work more than 50 hours a week and
only 8.4 % state that they are engaged in their business 8 hours a day.8
B. Good Practices
Ministry of Economy and Energy; Project for creating competitive start-up
enterprises (Project 100).The project provides comprehensive and targeted
assistance including access to finance for the start up and development of micro- and
small enterprises in Bulgaria, in the sectors of production and services.
Women entrepreneurs’ participation to the project in 2006 was as follows:
Applications submitted by women: 244 out of 593 applicants (41,1%)
Successfully trained women: 71 out of 196 trainees (36,2%)
Number of companies established by women: 16 out of 45 companies (35,6%)
The main projects implemented under the Bulgarian Employment Agency9 aiming
particularly at women entrepreneurship are:
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Project “Family centers for children -Support (trainings, information and
consulting services and assistance) for unemployed women to start their own
7
CITUB trade union experts publication ,2006.
8
www.mee.goevernment.bg/entrepreneurship
9
http://www.nsz.government.bg/
11
business in the field of child care. In 2006, the amount of 62.691 BGN was granted
for the employment of 25 unemployed women and for the participation to training of
15 other women. “Family centers” were founded in 2006 by 14 women and 13 others
were trained on the standards of small children care in family environment.
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Project “Entrepreneurship training”
The main purpose of the project is the improvement of unemployed people
qualifications through trainings in entrepreneurship which would give them an
opportunity to improve their professional competence and to be more successful with
starting their own business. Within the project, trainings are organised for the
unemployed in order to gain a professional qualification as “Economist-manager” via
the Bulgarian chamber of commerce and industry’s specialized programmes on
“Entrepreneurship and management”. The training takes place at 6 cities in Bulgaria.
In 2006, 66 out of 77 unemployed people that were trained within the project were
women.
 Special preferences for unemployed women in the Employment
Promotion Act – Direct financial subsidy for unemployment women with sustainable
business plans to start their own business. In order to encourage entrepreneurship
1 072 890 BGN were spent in 2006. From the funds provided for starting your own
business 928 people:
- were given a ‘single aid’ amount equal to the unemployment compensation for
starting their own business – 187 out of 363 persons are women;
- started their own business as a micro enterprise – 38 out of 98 persons are
women;
- started their own agricultural business – 180 out of 467 persons are women.
 ‘On Board’ project. BCCI10 is working in the area of access to finance for
female entrepreneurs. The main objectives of the Project are as follows: increased
knowledge/awareness on the availability of access to finance measures for female
entrepreneurs; and assistance to women who wish to become entrepreneurs by
BCCI. The objectives will be fulfilled by publicising the results of the survey, by
preparing an e-guide for financial measures for women entrepreneurs (programmes,
instruments and organisations, granting financing to women entrepreneurs). A center
for helping women entrepreneurs is also foreseen at the BCCI.
Project WENETT (Promotion of Women Entrepreneurs to participate in
European Technology Transfer) aims to encourage cooperation and transnational
technology partnerships through the establishment of Regional Interdisciplinary
Networks, involving women in science, women in business and the key regional
stakeholders in innovation in the participating regions.
During the project implementation examples of good practices how women in science
and in business have succeeded in introducing innovation across national borders
will be demonstrated through role models and case studies.
10
Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).
12
CZECH REPUBLIC
A. Statistics
According to the statistical data for the year 200611 in the Czech Republic women
represent 26.7% out of the total number of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs
represent 10% of employed women, and more than 20% of employed men are
entrepreneurs. Out of the total number of trading authorisations issued for natural
persons, 29.9% of them are owned by women.
The proportion of women amongst employers is lower than amongst self-employed
persons. Twenty point five percent of women engaged in business are university
graduates, which is 2.7% higher than in the case of the proportion of men with
university education engaged in business. Seventeen point eight percent of men
engaged in business are university graduates.
In the case of trading subjects, the highest proportion of women, 42.5%, is in the age
category 45-59. The greatest proportion of male entrepreneurs, 44.2%, is in the age
category 30-44.
B. Good Practices
The main activities of the AWEM CR12 include the project “Euro Woman
Entrepreneur of the 21st Century” in the programme EQUAL, focussing on the
training of women in business, dealt with in cooperation with the other eleven
national partners , and the project Enterprising Woman, co-financed from the
European Social Fund.
The SBAWEM organised the international conference “Women in Business and
Management”. In June 2006, SBAWEM13 participated in the international
conference “Women Entrepreneurs without Frontiers”, which was held in Bavaria.
The main activities of MAWEM14 are the workshops: “Woman and Internet”, the
aim of which is support leading to an improvement in user knowledge of computers,
the “Czech-Slovak Virtual Supermarket”, the aim of which is the generation of
mutually linked web pages of the associations of women entrepreneurs and
managers in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia, and also mentoring and the
conference: “Creative Female Personality of the third Millennium”.
In the project Assistance Centre of Initiative Equal Society, MAWEM helps women
creating new businesses and supports them in the first three years of business.
CBAWEM15 is a partner of the project OUTPLACEMENT in the programme
EQUAL and the project “Third Career”, which focuses on support for lifelong
education and improving conditions on the labour market for the 50+ target group in
the central Bohemia region.
11
www.czso.cz
Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Managers of the Czech Republic (AWEM CR)
(www.apmcr.cz),
13
the South Bohemia Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Managers (SBAWEM) (www.wib.cz)
14
The Moravian Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Managers (MAWEM) (www.mapm.cz),
15
The Central Bohemia Association of Women Managers and Entrepreneurs (CBAWEM)
(www.stredoceske-podnikatelky.cz).
12
13
Support for women in business
In 2006, women primarily used programmes in support of small and medium
businesses which the government approved for the period 2005–2006 and were
announced by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. These are the programmes
Guarantee, Market, Progress, Consultation, Design, Alliance, Programme in Support
of Participation of SME in 6th Framework Programme of EU, and Operational
Programme Industry and Business (Start, Credit, Marketing and Development
programmes) approved for the period 2004 – 2006,. There is support for consultation
services, education, participation at foreign exhibitions and trade fairs, certification
and access to capital in the form of loan guarantees, low-interest loans and grants.
Details of the programmes can be fund at: www.mpo.cz.
The programme Guarantee makes it possible to provide small and medium
businesses with guarantees for bank loans, for capital entry and proposal for public
tender. In this programme, female entrepreneurs were given 9 guarantees for bank
loans.
In the programme Market, 11 grants were provided in support of female business
for certification.
Support for advisory services and education in the programme Consultation is
significant for the development of female business. Out of the total number of 2125
advisory services in the amount of EURO 1 million provided to trading natural
persons and persons preparing for trading, women were provided 164 advantageous
consultation services (7.7%) in the amount of EURO 0.03 million (3.3%).
The programme Start supports the implementation of projects for female and
male entrepreneurs just starting up with interest free loans payable within six years.
In this programme in 2006, 125 loans (42%) were provided to female entrepreneurs
in the amount of EURO 1.8 million (35.4%).
The programme Credit provided loans for development projects with an
interest rate of 3% and 4% with a repayment period of up to 6 years. In total female
entrepreneurs were provided with 31 loans (8.8%) in an amount of EURO 1.6 million
(5.4%).
In 2006 the Ministry of Industry and Trade continued the implementation of the
programme ”Support for Business Activities and Promotion of Equality of Men
and Women” intended for non-profit-making non-governmental organisations.
Within the framework of this grant programme, projects were supported primarily for
the provision of consultation and information services, educational activities, regional
events with an exchange of experience, the holding of seminars and conferencesincluding those with international participation-, providing a common platform for
active woman entrepreneurs and managers.
In 2006, the South Bohemia Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Managers, for
example, participated in the programme with the project Inspiration 2006, as did the
Central Bohemia Association of Women Managers and Entrepreneurs – “How to Do
it and What Next”, and the Moravian Association of Women Entrepreneurs and
Managers – Enterprising Woman.
14
CYPRUS
Good Practices
With a view to fostering entrepreneurship among women, the Government introduced
the “Programme for the Enhancement of Women’s Entrepreneurship” in March
2002. The aim of the programme is to develop, support and encourage
entrepreneurship by women between the ages of 18 and 55, who wish to engage in
the sectors of manufacturing and/or in specific activities in electronic commerce,
services and tourism. This scheme concerns women who had not had any previous
business experience in any sector, for a period of 12 months before the date of the
submission of their proposal. Eligible candidates may participate in only one proposal
and their participation must represent at least 75% of the total share/corporate
capital. Successful candidates must register a limited company, whilst all
shareholders must be employees of the company. Registered employees must
attend a special training and development programme organised and subsidised by
the Human Development Authority of Cyprus.
The basic aim of this programme, besides strengthening of the entrepreneurial
activities of women, is the creation of new modern viable enterprises, the
development of innovative projects, new technologies and new products, as well as
the support of services, which enhance quality and the development of tourism.
The Government grant can be as high as 50% of the approved budget, up to a
maximum of 60,000 Euros for the manufacturing sector and 42,500 Euros for the
other sectors. The programme operates on a yearly basis and in 2006 operated for
the fifth consecutive year.
During 2007, the 40 proposals put forward in 2006 were evaluated, 22 of them were
approved and 690,000 Euros will be allocated to them as government grants. From
this year, the Programmes for the Enhancement of Youth Entrepreneurship and
Female Entrepreneurship will be co-funded by the Structural Funds for the period
2007-2013.
From 2004, the applicants approved in the Programme, are entitled to attend a
training and development programme-seminar organised by the Human
Development Authority of Cyprus. There have been two series of programmesseminars completed until now with great success.
15
The total functions regarding the programme during the period 2002-2006 are shown
on the table below.
Programme for the Enhancement of
Women’s Entrepreneurship 2002 – 2006
Α/Α
1. Number of applications
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Total
26
31
32
50
55
139
9
9
16
26
22
60
EUR
EUR
EUR
EUR
EUR
EUR
202,427
271,885
556,757
757,510
689,831
2,478,410
12
8
38
61
57
176
5
5
7
1
-
18
EUR
EUR
EUR
EUR
-
EUR
158,683
85,952
147,181
19,319
submitted
2. Number of applications
approved in the Programme
3. Amount of grant to be given
4. Number of new labour force
created
5. Number of ‘entrepreneurships’
completed until 31/07/2007
6. Amount of grant given until
31/07/2007
411,135
16
DENMARK
Denmark has public and private activities and programs supporting entrepreneurs
and SMEs. There are no separate programs or projects for women entrepreneurs.
However there are many private networks for women entrepreneurs.
17
ESTONIA
A. Statistics
In Estonia approximately 35% of all entrepreneurs are women. In the future the
percentage of women entrepreneurs is likely to increase as there are as many
women as men within the potential entrepreneurs. At the moment there is lack of
gender-based data collection on entrepreneurs. The conception of the segregation
between the men and women entrepreneurs can be drawn from the following table.
2004
2005
2006
595 500
299 100
296 400
607 400
300 500
306 900
646 300
322 900
323 300
538 000
260 300
277 700
558 200
266 900
291 300
594 700
286 600
308 000
persons16
Employed
Men and women
Men
Women
Employees
Men and women
Men
Women
Self employed entrepreneurs
Men and women
Men
Women
68 360
41 613
26 747
Table: Employed persons, employees, self employed entrepreneurs in 2004-2006
Estonia does not have specific schemes to promote entrepreneurship amongst
women. There are many general support-schemes for entrepreneurs. For example
there is a start-up programme where start-up assistance and a loan together with the
access to enterprise-related information and knowledge are provided for start-up
enterprises.
In 2007 a special corner on women entrepreneurship was launched on a web site
www.aktiva.ee. Aktiva is the main state run informational and communicational
medium on internet for a starting entrepreneur and small and medium-sized
enterprises.
B. Good Practices
Some projects which promote women entrepreneurship and have received grants
from Estonian Labour Market Board:
Employed — a person who during the reference period
- worked and was paid as a wage earner, entrepreneur or a free-lancer;
- worked without direct payment in a family enterprise or on his / her own farm;
- was temporarily absent from work.
16
18
“Reducing unemployment and promoting entrepreneurship among women and
young mothers in Valgamaa” – the project provides women with vocational
advisory services, compilation of individual action plan, professional training,
knowledge of how to start a business. During the project women are supervised.
There were 60 women taking part of the project, of which 75% are employed now.
“From women to women” – the project aims to the return of women with large
family or who have been unemployed for long time back to the labour market and it
supports women to start a business. The project provides women with knowledge on
how to start a business, with different handicraft skills and ideas of the business
opportunities in the area. To obtain ideas and experiences women visit different local
enterprises. A new starting entrepreneur can receive start-up assistance and also
additional training when needed.
There are many associations of women entrepreneurs and associations of women
that promote entrepreneurship among women. One of the examples is the “FEM
Project”. The premier partner of this project in Estonia was the non-profit
organization ETNA. The aim of project in Estonia was to start a functioning and
sustainable support system for the women entrepreneurs in rural areas.
19
FINLAND
A. Statistics
There were 73 000 women entrepreneurs in Finland at the end of 2006. The total
amount of entrepreneurs was 229.500 which represented 9,4 % of all persons in
employment. Women entrepreneurs accounted for over 30 % of the total amount of
all entrepreneurs, the highest this level has ever been. Women’s entrepreneurial
activity – entrepreneurs share of employees – is 6,3 % (men’s 12,3 %).
Typical woman entrepreneur in Finland
 Self-employed (70%)
 In the service industry but not in knowledge intensive (63% services, 22%
trade, 10% manufacturing, 5% agriculture and forestry)
 19 % under 35 year old (woman entrepreneurs are younger than men)
 Highly educated, 10 % have university education
 Limited growth orientated
 Good solvency, equity ratio over 30%
 Profitability and productivity higher than average
 Low tax debts, good liquidity and credit ratings
B. Good Practices
Since 1997, a special micro-credit programme aimed at women entrepreneurs
has been running in Finland. ‘Loan’ has established its position as a recognized
financial instrument facilitating access to finance both for self-employed and microenterprises employing maximum 5 people and owned and managed by women.
Loans are targeted at enterprises having women as the majority of its owners (over
50%). The loan amount can be between 3.000 – 35.000 €. It enables the start-up of
an enterprise, development of operations and investment in situations where the
available collateral is weak or does not exist at all. Annually about 1200-1500 women
loans, € 22 - 25 million, are granted by Finnvera´s 16 regional offices.
Loans granted 1999 – 200617
Year
Loans
granted in
€
Number of
loans
New jobs
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
16.006.950 16.538.590 16.454.000 17.321.000 18.173.000 22..075.000
EUR
EUR
EUR
EUR
EUR
EUR
2005
2006
25.699.815 23.217.000
EUR
EUR
1324
1225
1121
1148
1212
1381
1538
1423
1563
1293
1162
1124
1198
1417
1621
1449
The government set up in spring 2004 a working group to examine the preconditions
for strengthening women entrepreneurship in Finland. Among the proposed
measures was: setting up a venture capital fund focusing on service sector. On
October 2005 a national venture capital fund ‘Aloitusrahasto Vera Oy’ started its
17
www.finnvera.fi
20
operations. This fund is owned by Finnvera Plc. It will target its operations to new
technology (NTNE’s) start-ups and innovative enterprises in service sector.
The programme “Ladies Business School”, which runs from 1987 provides
training programmes for female executives and Managing Director courses
especially for women entrepreneurs and would-be women entrepreneurs.
Substitutes for the Self-Employed’ is an Equal funded project co-financed
by the Employment and Economic Development Centre. The goals of the project are:
to sustain entrepreneurs’ well-being at work, promote entrepreneurship, increase
employment by developing new employment models that meet the needs of working
life. It also aims to make young women more interested in self-employment by
helping them finding a balance between work and family. For the purposes of this
project, an Internet-based register is created to facilitate communication during 2006.
NaisWay18 - female energy to transport and logistics is a three year, Equal
funded project. Encouraging future transportation entrepreneurs and supporting
women who have already taken that step. The most successful training programme
so far in NaisWay has been the specialist vocational qualification for female
entrepreneurs in the transport and logistics sector. Seventeen women took the
degree in 2006. They had their own e-learning platform which functioned as a virtual
classroom. The women and their trainer met each other in person at the monthly
face-to-face training sessions.
Reaktioketju is an Equal funded project in North Savo Region that offers
would-be women entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs a possibility to develop
their professional and business skills, to build up networks for their own sectors and
to internationalise their activities. The aim is to achieve a positive chain of reactions
that leads to new women owned enterprises, also in the fields that are traditionally
non-feminine, update professional skills and know-how of women entrepreneurs and
find new business concepts and networks. The project helps women to find solutions
to combine their family- and working life and to focus on psychological and physical
well-being. The project provides action models how to promote female
entrepreneurship and how to activate existing women entrepreneurs to take part to
the development of the region. www.reaktioketju.fi
The Women`s Enterprise Agency in Helsinki19 has created a mentoring model
which has been disseminated widely within Finland and also abroad. New ways of
mentoring have been created. Group mentoring model has been tailored and piloted
to support the entrepreneurial training courses for start-up entrepreneurs, students as
well as immigrant women. From these experiences new concepts will be produced to
be disseminated in Educational Institutions and TE-centres throughout Finland and
also abroad.
Female Entrepreneurship Portal has been opened in March 2006 in
Enterprise Finland (www.yrityssuomi.fi/naisyrittajyys). In the portal are collected
nearly 200 different services ( e.g. training-, advising-, marketing- and financing
services) from approximately 100 public business promotion agencies
18
www.jakk.jalasjarvi.fi/etusivu.asp?REC=541
www.nyek.fi
19
21
FRANCE
A. Statistics
Insee20 reports that 36% of new sole proprietorship enterprises were started by
women in 2006 (up 0.7% from 2005). Women in general prefer sole proprietorships
(65% of women versus 52% of men) to corporations. According to a study by Insee21,
the percentage of businesses started or taken over by women is estimated at
30%. This shows that although the proportion of women entrepreneurs is rising
steadily, it remains well below the proportion of women in the active population (46%)
and in the population at large (51%). Women represent a larger share of business
takeovers (36% of takeovers) than of start-ups (26% of start-ups). 50% of women
start or take over commerce-related businesses (particularly in retail and hotelcatering) while 41% start or acquire service activities (mainly personal services,
health/education, and services to businesses). More women than men return to the
workforce via a business start-up or takeover. Only 28% of women resort to bank
loans. (source:APCE22:).
B. Good Practices
The French ministries in charge of Gender Equality and SMEs have developed the
following measures to encourage entrepreneurial initiatives by women:
1. Intensifying collaboration with assistance networks.
A partnership policy between the ministries and the key parties involved in enterprise
creation has led to framework agreements that set targets and define the means for
attaining them, as well as government's financial support. Framework agreements
are signed with institutional partners or associations and cover all factors liable to
encourage business start-ups or takeovers by women. These agreements aim to
support women who have ideas, develop the entrepreneurial spirit of women,
promote women’s entrepreneurship or test new financing tools. Under the framework
agreement signed by the state and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations
(Deposits and Loans Fund) to promote business start-ups, takeovers and
development by women, the signatories undertake to pursue the following joint
actions: acquire a better understanding of the reasons for the current stagnation of
the number of women who start their own businesses; increase the availability of
existing financing tools; set a progress target in liaison with enterprise-creation
assistance networks to be backed by the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations;
develop micro-credits to encourage women’s integration into the business world;
deploy initiatives at the local level; and give positive recognition to women
entrepreneurs. Framework agreements are also signed between the state and
'France Active' and 'France Initiative', aim at: promoting women’s start-up projects to
financial institutions; facilitating assistance to women involved in an entrepreneurial
project; and developing an entrepreneurial spirit among women. The agreement with
the APCM (Standing Assembly of Trade Chambers) calls for broadening the access
to craft trades; using apprenticeships to facilitate the integration of young people into
20
Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (National Institute for Statistics
and Economic Studies) – Insee Première n°1120, January 2007.
21
study conducted using results obtained from the SINE 21 system
22
Agence pour la création d’entreprises. (Agency for Enterprise Creation). Survey taken July 2005
based on a panel of SINE data from 2002 (Source : Insee).
22
the workforce; supporting enterprise creation by women, immigrants and people from
immigrant communities; and preventing the discriminations to which these people
may fall victim. Regarding financial support, there are numerous non
governmental assistance networks that focus on the issue of women’s
entrepreneurship and the government actively supports the initiatives undertaken by
these networks through the payment of subsidies. Several networks of women
entrepreneurs also receive state support. Some examples of such networks are:
- “Action’elles”: provides assistance to women entrepreneurs prior to the start-up of
their business and the start-up phase, mentoring to steer them successfully through
the first few years, and assistance in growing their business;
- “Dirigeantes”: unites female entrepreneurs seeking to develop synergies amongst
themselves and in their environment to make their actions more effective.
- ACTIF (national federation of spouses of self-employed workers in France): this
network serves as an interface with the authorities, banks and the like to defend and
improve the situation of spouses of entrepreneurs and accordingly, of businesses run
by couples. The Federation has published a CD-Rom entitled “Succeed as a couple”.
2. Facilitating access to bank loans
The FGIF (Guarantee Fund for Creation, Takeover, or Development of Enterprises
Initiated by Women) backs medium-term bank loans used to finance working capital
requirements or investments. Any female business started or taken over that has less
than five years of existence is eligible. Secured loans are granted in an amount
ranging from €5,000 to €38,112 for terms of two to seven years. The coverage by the
FGIG is limited to a ceiling of 70%. The FGIF works with the 'France Active' and
'France Initiative' networks in order to meet locally the needs of women
entrepreneurs. These two major networks that provide assistance for enterprise
creation have their own financing tools, such as loans on trust, and are mandated by
the state to disburse aid funds such as the PCE (business creation loan), the
ACCRE23, and the “chéquier conseil” (vouchers to subsidize the cost of consulting
services). Some 1500 jobs have been created or made more secure over the past
three years. The FGIF plans a further devolution of the fund locally along with a more
extensive partnership with banks and a better alignment of the current system with
the actual needs of beneficiaries.
3. Legislative measures
The law of 2 August 2005 in favour of SMEs provides for the reinforcement of the
status of the assisting spouse (women account for 93%), which constitutes a
unique form of entrepreneurship. Choosing the status of assisting spouse enables
one to accrue personal old-age pension benefits and creates eligibility for lifelong
learning benefits. Moreover, the assisting spouse now has the right to take over the
family business after the head of the business stops running it, and to maintain the
enterprise provided that she obtains accreditation of prior experiential learning when
there are no professional qualifications. The Agriculture Act of 5 January 2006
extends the status of “assisting spouse of the farmer or head of an agricultural
enterprise” to people bound by a civil-solidarity pact and domestic partners.
23
The ACCRE entitles beneficiaries (former job-seekers or recipients of certain minimum-income
benefits in connection with an enterprise creation or takeover) to exemption from payroll and
family allowance taxes (health, maternity, old age, disability and death insurance) due to their
entrepreneurial activity with payment of the corresponding social allowances, for 12 months
(which can be extended to 24 months for businesses classified as micro-enterprises). There were
71,500 beneficiaries in 2005, accounting for over one-fourth of all start-ups. In 2005, women
represented 32.4% of the beneficiaries.
23
GERMANY
A. Statistics
In 2005 women accounted for 30% of Germany's self-employed. The proportion of
women who are self-employed is 7%, which is just half that of men. Nevertheless, the
number of self-employed women has risen continually and more than the number of
men since 2001 (27.9%)24.
Around two-thirds (64.9%) of self-employed women are aged between 34 and 54.
The number of younger women starting up businesses is 15% of all women starting
up businesses. This means that women choose self-employment only after a few
years of working experience or after a career break due to motherhood or family
reasons. Entrepreneurs generally have a higher level of education. 70% of women
who set up a business do so solo with no employees or manage a business with
other self-employed people. The number of women setting up their own businesses
in the liberal professions has been marked by a continual increase. Women are
particularly active in health-related services and artistic professions. The professions
of notaries, lawyers and tax advisers have seen a disproportionately high increase.
Women have a risk-conscious approach to setting up their own businesses, are more
reliable in repaying loans, and aim for slow but steady growth.
B. Good Practices
The subject of “women entrepreneurs” is part of the Government’s initiative for a new
culture of self-employment. In this context, the “power for women entrepreneurs”
initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research was developed. The
objective is to motivate and support women - through various measures - to found
their own businesses.
The core of this initiative is the setting up of the national agency for women
entrepreneurs25 (bga), which receives funding from three Federal Ministries26 and is
co-financed with funds from the European Social Fund. The bga advises women in
all sectors and stages of setting up and building up their own businesses and with
regard to business transfers or successions. It brings together initiatives, experts and
women entrepreneurs and promotes the cross-disciplinary transfer of know-how.
Through workshops and series of events, the bga has created a broad basis for the
transfer of know-how between the multipliers assisting business start-ups.bga
identifies gaps in research and compiles the most important data on women-specific
start-ups. For women entrepreneurs there is still a lot of potential to be exploited in
24
Bga factsheets 7-9/2006, www.gruenderinnenagentur.de
Cf. National report of vocational training 2006, Chapter 3.3.4, p 245f, further information:
www.gruenderinnenagentur.de
26 Federal Ministry of Education and Research in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Family, Senior
Citizens, Women and Youth, and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology
25
24
the growing IT sector, as well as in technology and knowledge-based startups.27.
Around 71.000 medium-sized enterprises seek a successor each year but only 1015% of those companies go to a woman. To promote women in business succession
the bga has launched a national initiative with the motto ‘Female succession’. A
study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Family, Senior Citizens, Women and
Youth examining the succession process within family companies in the configuration
“transfer from father to daughter" showed that women are given less consideration in
succession, even if they have better qualifications. However, if daughters are given a
chance, they are just as successful business leaders as sons – even in maledominated sectors28.
The introduction of the “power for women entrepreneurs” programme by the
Federal Ministry of Education and Research opened up a broad spectrum of topics.
The focal points of the selected projects include:
 technology-oriented start-ups by women
 development of measures to increase the proportion of women in spin-offs
from universities and research centres
 support of women with degrees in humanities or social sciences for
knowledge-based services
 examinations of how women get start-up-specific knowledge and experience
and how this affects their chances of success or what connections exist
between (familial) socialisation and start-ups.
 examinations of special target groups and development of corresponding
recommendations for action/types of support available (female migrants, startups in rural areas, business succession)
 development of objective instruments for predicting success, and
 development of approaches for optimising the institutional support and
advisory channels for women starting their own businesses29
Another federal initiative “WomenExist” is aimed at young women who, after
vocational training, are aiming at a management level position in a company or who
see a start-up as an opportunity for their professional development. Multi-media
learning facilities are being developed for these target groups and their advisory
services. The learning system will focus on developing key skills: supporting the
personality characteristics and social skills needed for assuming management
responsibility and for planning and implementing a business start up.
Women are particularly susceptible to the changes in the rural area, insofar as they
open up non-agriculture-based sources of income. The model training on “New
media for rural women" has led to numerous start-ups in subsidiary and
supplementary activities. This has shown that the active use of new media is an
important strategy for the development of new business and income opportunities in
rural areas.
27
For more information: Bundesweite Gründerinnenagentur (Hrsg.), 2. Expertinnen/Experten Workshop der
bga: Technologieorientierte und wissensbasierte Unternehmensgründungen durch Frauen – Netzwerke, Spinoffs, Teamgründungen, März 2006
28 Haubl, Rolf: Familiendynamik in Familienunternehmen: Warum sollten Töchter nicht erste Wahl sein?
Universität Frankfurt 2006
29 For more information: www.pt-dlr.de/pt_cg under the menu point Laufende Vorhaben/Existenzgründerinnen
25
GREECE
Good Practices
The General Secretariat for Gender Equality30 is the governmental agency
competent to plan, implement and monitor the implementation of policies on equality
between women and men in all sectors. One of its main priorities is combating the
equality deficit in the labor market and labor relations in the private and public
sectors. To enhance women’s employment, the implementation of the project
“Integrated Interventions in favor of Women” of a total budget of 59 million euros
has been already launched, with a significant impact to all rural areas of the country.
The project provides consultation, training and employment to 9018 women.
The female entrepreneurship is further supported through a subsidy to those
women interested in establishing their own enterprise. The amount is 9.000 EUR and
special provision has been foreseen for mothers with children in pre-school
age/infants and women who take care of persons with disabilities, since their
domicile can be considered as the company headquarters and the cost of day
nurseries is also covered by the project. This subsidy concerns 2.074 women.
1. Operation Programme of Education and Initial Vocational Training (EPEAEK)
Cooperation between the General Secretariat for Equality and the Ministry of
Education and Religious Affairs. Elaboration of a study recording national and
international bibliography which promotes gender equality in relation to the
specialization fields offered by schools and institutes of vocational education and
training. The preparation of a bibliography catalogue on equality issues in education
related to the studies offered by the schools and institutes of initial vocational
education and training.
On line networking between the libraries of ΤΕΕ/EPAL and ΙΕΚ of the country and the
Library on Gender and Equality that has been developed by the General Secretariat
for Gender Equality with the intention of making school libraries function as a place
giving out knowledge and information on issues concerning the promotion of gender
equality.
The above mentioned activities constitute an inextricable complex of activities
reinforcing Vocational/Technical Education and Training and aim, in general, at the
elimination of stereotypes and at the promotion of women’s entrepreneurship.
2. Educational procedure




30
Study visits / informative lectures to primary and secondary, and TEE/EPAL
and IEK pupils in the whole country, as well as to their teachers.
Dispatching printed material of the General Secretariat for Equality
Career and professional guidance and orientation
Assistance – Support to students of TEI (Technical Professional Institutes)
and AEI (Universities and Polytechnic Schools) to compile essays on women’s
entrepreneurship
www.isotita.gr
26
This educational approach concerning boys and girls adolescents aims at the
elimination of the stereotypes of the gender roles, bridging the gap between men and
women, and cultivating the attitude of attributing equal value to activities and
characteristics/features of women and men.
More specifically, as far as employment matters are concerned, it aims at sensitizing
adolescents in:
- eliminating the «men’s» and «women’s» professional segregation;
- improving women’s working status; and
- encouraging women’s participation in employment and business activities.
3. The programme of Development Cooperation and Aid of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, OECD and DAC (International Development Cooperation
Department)
Annual Report of the Greek bilateral and multilateral State Developmental
Cooperation and Aid for year 2006. The actual programme is : «Education – Social
Exclusion – Prostitution – Migration» Hellenic Aid (DAC), which includes issues on
Women’s Entrepreneurship and the establishment of cooperatives.
4. The Research Center for Gender Equality31 (KETHI) is supervised and funded
by the General Secretariat for Gender Equality of the Ministry of the Interior, Public
Administration and Decentralization. KETHI participates in the following projects
aiming at the development of women’s entrepreneurship:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Social Amfiktionia, Budget 73000€
Intervention for Reconciliation, Budget 48000€
Organization of Entrepreneurship Laboratories for Women, Budget 20567€,
198 women participated in this project taken place in Athens
Women in Business Support Growth and Competitiveness - INTERREG III,
Budget 126000€ for women (unemployed, employed, entrepreneurs) from
Italy, Cyprus and Greece.
5. The Hellenic Organization of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and
Handicraft S.A.32 is a non-profit public organization operating under the auspices of
the Ministry of Development. It has focused its activities on the following objectives:
a.
enhancing competitiveness of the SMEs
b.
promoting entrepreneurship and facilitating start-ups
c.
facilitating ICT uptake
d.
contributing to the efforts for simplifying and improving the administrative and
regulatory environment
e.
education and training for entrepreneurship.
f.
The most recent action of the organization is the implementation of the project
“Development of Female Employment and Entrepreneurship” in 11 Regions of
the country with a total budget of 11.190.000€ (deadline for applications is 1-102007).
31
32
www.kethi.gr
www.eommex.gr
27
ICELAND
A. Statistics
For the year 2006, the population of Iceland is a little over 300.000. About 63% live in
the greater Reykjavik area. In the year 2004 there were 2517 start up businesses,
of which 20% were owned and run by women. Most were small firms in the service
sectors which had few employees. 77.5% of Icelandic women aged 15 to 64 years
are active in the labour market. The unemployment rate is 2,4%. http://sedlabanki.is
B. Good Practices
A committee founded by the Minister of Industry and Commerce had the main task
of enhancing women’s opportunities to direct Icelandic companies and to encourage
the business environment to change its attitude towards women as board members.
With this purpose the committee and ‘The Ministry of Industry and Commerce’
explored the possibilities of creating a field where participants from various
associations and institutions could work together on implementing good ideas on:
 how to increase discussion and knowledge amongst women,
 how to strengthen women’s networks;
 making sure that the men on company boards are aware of women’s abilities;
 how to encourage companies to put women on their agenda; and
 urging men in top positions to take an interest in the matter.
One of the first steps taken was a very successful conference called “Let´s
activate women’s power” (Virkjum kraft kvenna) held in January 2007. Over 400
men and women participated in the Conference and had a fruitful discussion on the
subject. http://www.idnadarraduneyti.is/
The Ministry of Social Affairs gives special grants to women through The Women´s
Fund (Kvennasjóður). The aims are to reduce unemployment among women, to help
women to gain access to finance for starting a business, to increase economic
diversity and to fight against the depopulation of rural areas.
http://www.vinnumalastofnun.is/
The “Impra Service Centre for Entrepreneurs and SMEs” operates within the
‘Technological Institute of Iceland’. Impra places particular emphasis on providing
advice to women developing specific business ideas with the intention of
establishing their own businesses. Impra offers a 15 week seminar for women
twice a year. The seminar, called “Headway” (Brautargengi) is held around the
country and deals with the establishment and running of businesses. This seminar
aims to encourage women to enter the Icelandic business area and to promote
equality between businesses run by men and those run by women. Nearly 600
women have participated in the seminars. http://www.impra.is/
28
“The Icelandic Association of Women Entrepreneur5” (Félag kvenna
íatvinnurekstri FKA) is a non profit professional organisation for Iceland based female
business owners. At present, there are around 600 members. http://www.fka.is/
“Vivid agriculture” (Lifandi landbúnaður) is a grass roots movement within the
farming community dedicated to promoting gender equality within agriculture. It aims
to empower farming women to participate in public affairs, especially in areas that
relate to policy making in agriculture. “Vivid agriculture” has developed seminars for
women and organized a promotion to introduce farm life and agricultural products to
people living in urban areas.
http://www.bondi.is/landbunadur/wgbi.nsf/key2/lifandi_landbunadur_forsida
The Bifröst University has for a few years, successfully offered 11 week business
courses for women in business called “Women Power” (Máttur kvenna).
A Women Power part II is now offered, with a 11 week course on further education in
this field. Both business courses are Distance education (Online Education).
http://www.bifrost.is/default.asp?Sid_Id=23663&tId=99&Tre_Rod=&qsr
The Research Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Iceland is an
independent research institute. Its main purpose is to promote research in the field of
women and gender studies and to disseminate information on this field.
http://www.rikk.hi.is/
The Gender Equality Identification (Jafnréttiskennitalan) is a research site on
labour law and gender equality matters located at the Bifrost University, which among
other things issues reports on equality within 100 of Iceland´s largest companies.
Latest conclusions were revealed in May this year, showing that 8% of Board
members are women and among the top executives of companies 14% are women.
The Icelandic Women Database http://www.kvennaslóðir.is provides information
on women specialists in numerous fields with the purpose of making women’s
expertise more visible and accessible and thereby facilitates searches for experts by
the media, the private sector, public authorities and individuals.
One of the projects the Ministry of Industry and Commerce took on in 2006 was to
spend approximately 1 million kronur on an study as to whether decision has been
based on aims of integration regarding grants of loans and investments on
behalf of the Ministry and its specific institutions.
The Research Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Iceland took care of
studying the position of women in relation to the support system of the Confederation
of Icelandic Employers regarding grants of loans and shares at the New Business
Venture Fund and Impra Service Centre for Entrepreneurs and SMEs.
The check involves the period 1999 – 2005 and the study will take place May –
September 2007.
29
ITALY
A. Statistics
Since 2004 Unioncamere provides annual statistics on women’s
entrepreneurship on the base of the data collected by the Observatory on Women
Entrepreneurship (up to 31 December 2006). The analysis, focus on the structure of
enterprises run by women, gives evidence of the problems and main motivating
factors lying behind them.
According to the data in 2006 the total number of female-owned companies
(1.234.919) has increased (15.807 more than in 2005), representing 24% of the
total number of companies in Italy (5.158.278) and growing faster than the totality of
enterprises. Moreover, the data show that women entrepreneurship is gaining good
positions in sectors like buildings, financial services, business services, where
enterprises are traditionally run by men, while the commerce sector in Italy is still the
sector with the highest relative majority of female-owned companies (31,6%); in
agriculture the percentage is 22,1 and in the manufactory activities is 10,3.
Another significant aspect concerns the nationality of women: the data about women
managers’ nationality in Italian female-owned companies show that 3,3% are non-EU
citizens (41.973 on the total of 1.234.919), of these, 9.828 are Chinese. In terms of
legal status 875.330 are individual companies (70,9% of the total).
As far as the localization of enterprises, the analysis show that Southern Italy is the
geographical area which has the highest incidence of female-owned companies
(26,5% of the total: in 2005 it was by 25.8%) followed by Central Italy (25,1% of the
total; in 2005 was 19.6%) and by North-western Italy (22,0% of the total; in 2005 it
was 24.7%). The geographical distribution of enterprises is clearly influenced by
economic and social conditions of women in certain areas of the country as the rate
of unemployment is particularly high in the southern, less developed regions. In fact,
according to the analysis of Unioncamere in 2006 the rate of employment among
women in Italy is only 46,3%, while in the European Union the average stands is
around 56%. This makes Italy one of the countries with the lowest female
employment rate in the EU. One of the reasons which might explain the low rate of
women’s participation in the labour market is the low level of part-time employment.
Yet, thanks to recent policies supporting the employment of women in Italy, the
employment rate of women has increased by around five percentage points over the
last 10 years. Law 215 of 1992, for instance, was specifically concerned for the
promotion of women’s entrepreneurial activities, and after six calls has produced
significant results.
B. Good Practices
Activity of the Ministry for Economic Development concerning the Promotion
of Women entrepreneurship (Law 215/92)
At the beginning of 2006 the activity of the Ministry has been focused on the
evaluation of applications submitted on the occasion of the 6th call for proposal
addressed to female entrepreneurship under Law 215/92. The total number of
submitted projects has been 7.400 on the whole national territory, while 3.850 were
the projects evaluated by the Ministry. After the evaluation, on the base of available
30
funds, regional short lists of eligible investment programs have been approved and
over 86 million euros have been granted at national level, thus financing 1.126
initiatives.
On the side of Regional Programs (Law 215), the Ministry has evaluated and
approved 18 regional programs. The Programs were focused on four main lines of
activity:


the Promotion of entrepreneurial Training for women;
the development of Assistance and Consultancy services for small
businesses run by women;
the monitoring of funded initiatives.


In particular the third activity is jointly implemented by the Ministry and the Regions in
order to provide the first National Report on more than 11.000 enterprises which,
from 2002 to 2004 had received financial support in order to develop their business
under the 4th and the 5th call of Law 215. The monitoring activity is currently on-going
and will last until the end of 2007 while statistics will be ready by June 2008.
31
LATVIA
A. Statistics
Mentors and mentees in Mentoring programs during 2005/2007:

Mentors - 74 (64 women, 10 men)
Mentors 2005/2007
10
w omen
men
64

Mentees - 83 (73 women, 10 men)
Mentees 2005/2007
10
w omen
men
73
Mentees that have established a company:




Have company: 29
Don’t have company : 27
Has sold shares of enterprise : 1
16 new companies have been established during Mentoring programs 2005/2007
B. Good Practices
The Association Lidere in co-operation with Women’s Enterprise Agency (Finland)
and with the support of Ministry of Economics of Latvia started the first Mentoring
program for entrepreneurs in Latvia at the beginning of 2005. There were 12 pairs
32
made for the first mentoring program in February 2005 (6 in Jelgava, 4 in Riga and 2
in Rezekne). In the framework of the program experienced business women
(mentors) shared their experience and support to newly started entrepreneurs. 6
from 12 young entrepreneurs already had their business (about one year old), others
had a business idea.
What the mentees wanted out of the programme was: to find encouragement; to
receive new experience, ideas and advice; to broaden contact network, and to
develop entrepreneurial skills.
The aim of the program was to: support newly started entrepreneurs and those who
would like to start their business in the cities and regions of Latvia; support
development of new enterprises and work places; and give access to information and
consultations.
The objectives of the program were:
1. Identify 12 pairs of mentors and mentees;
2. Carry out Start-up, Midterm and Closing seminars;
3. Carry out competence developing seminars;
4. Carry out mentoring program in the framework of one year;
5. Provide with the support mentoring pairs during the program;
6. Evaluate the process and the results of the mentoring program;
7. Adopt program for the next mentoring program in Latvia.
The Program results are :
1. Development of new enterprises;
2. Development of current enterprises, development of quality of the business
processes;
3. Enchaining entrepreneurs to new businesses;
4. Development of new workplaces;
5. Preventing closing of businesses;
6. Development of independent mentoring system in Latvia.
The 2nd mentoring program started on 24 March 2006. There are 11 pairs – 19
mentees and 13 mentors. Under the programme there are 3 companies that should
be developed and 8 new companies that should be established. Comparing with the
first program there are 37% young businessmen and 63% young businesswomen as
mentees. The results of the competition “The Mentor of the Year 2006” were
presented on 2nd February 2007. The aim of the competition was to recognise
mentors - experienced businessperson who share their knowledge and experience
with young entrepreneurs -or a person who would like to start his/her business.
The 3rd Mentoring Programme for entrepreneurs started on August 2007. It is
supposed to design 12 mentoring pairs.
On April 2006 a mentoring program for women entrepreneurs at the technical
industries was started in the framework of the EQUAL program of EC by the
association “Lidere”. Within the project: “Diminishment of Profession Segregation
Causes” 16 mentoring pairs were established and the program closed in March 2007.
The society “Līdere” in collaboration with a market and social researches centre
“Latvijas Fakti” in 2005 executed a research on ‘evaluation of mentoring’33,
schemes.
33
http://www.lidere.lv/dl/mentor_resear_2005.pdf
33
THE NETHERLANDS
A. Statistics
About 31% of all entrepreneurs in the Netherlands are women. Although their
enterprises tend to stay small, their enterprises are steady and do not go bankrupt as
often as male-owned enterprises. The policy of The Netherlands’ Ministry of
Economic Affairs is mainly aimed at entrepreneurship in general and only slightly at
‘target groups’ such as women entrepreneurs. For these groups, role models,
networking and coaching are seen as important.
On January 30, 2007 ‘The Monitor New (= ethnic) Entrepreneurship’ has been
published. It has also information on Women Entrepreneurs with another ethnic
background. The numbers of 2004 are the most actual numbers.
Percentage Women Entrepreneurs in The Netherlands from different countries of
origin in %:
Country of Origin
1999
2002
2004
Turkey
19
17
17
Marocco
14
12
14
Surinam
31
31
32
The Netherlands 33
33
35
Antilles/ Aruba
China/Hong Kong 40
40
43
This means that e.g. in 2004 from all Turkish entrepreneurs in The Netherlands, 17%
are women.
B. Good Practices
In November 2006 the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs organised a trade
mission of women entrepreneurs to Madrid and Barcelona. The aim was doing
business and networking with other women entrepreneurs. The trade mission of
women entrepreneurs was very successful. The policy is to get more women
entrepreneurs to participate in regular trade missions.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has often contact with the Federation of Women
Entrepreneurs34
and
with
the
Black
Women
Business
Owners
(ZZVN)(www.zzvn.nl). These organisations are good for networking and for finding
role models. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is an operational partner in Equal
project of the ZZVN in the Labour Participation of Women of another Ethnic
Background with entrepreneurship as an option.
In October 2007 a report on micro-finance has been published. This will make
microfinance possible for loans of maximum € 25.000. It will be in combination with
coaching. The national government and some banks will finance the guarantee-fund
34
http://www.federatiezakenvrouwen.nl
34
for microfinance. It is expected that especially women entrepreneurs will benefit from
the microfinance.
In 2007 a financial compensation during pregnancy-leave (16 weeks) has been
made possible. The amount of the allowance depends on the year-income of the
women entrepreneur in the year before pregnancy. The maximum will be the legal
minimum wage. The allowance will be paid by the national government.
It needs a change of laws to be implemented and it is expected to start at the end of
2008.
35
POLAND
A. Statistics
56.8% of the sole proprietorships created in 2005 (and still active in 2006) were
founded by men, and 43.2% by women. Since 2000, there has been a growing trend
in the percentage of sole proprietorships being founded by women (and still active
one year after start-up).
Graph: Percentage of sole proprietorships founded by women/men and still active one year
after start-up35
70,00
60,00
65,6
64,2
59,0
62,8
60,2
37,2
39,8
56,8
50,00
40,00
43,2
35,8
34,4
30,00
41,0
mężczyźni
20,00
kobiety
10,00
linia trendu
0,00
2000
Key:
Blue line: Men
2001
Red line: Women
2002
2003
2004
2005
Yellow line: Trend line
B. Good Practices
A project entitled Women on the Labour Market in the Zachodniopomorski
Region was conducted between 1 October 2005 and 30 November 2006 by the
Polska Fundacja Przedsiębiorczości (Polish Business Foundation) in partnership with
Telewizja Polska S.A. in Szczecin. Its external partners in the fields of recruitment
and promotion were local authorities, district employment offices and business
development centres. The project was co-financed by the European Social Fund and
from the national budget.
The main purpose of the project was to integrate unemployed women into the labour
market and to give them the possibility of either obtaining paid employment or
starting their own business. As part of the project, a series of 12 three-day training
courses was held, called "Starting my own business or getting a job" and a 12-part
television series was made, called "The Businesswoman". The training series
comprised three thematic segments: a) psychological and audiovisual; b) the "ABC"
of economic activity; and c) workshops on how to draw up a business plan and
search for work. In order to make it easier for the participants to get to the training
35
Based on Central Statistical Office data for 2000-2005.
36
course, they were offered free transport to and from the course location. During the
course, carers (persons with appropriate qualifications, in many cases unemployed
women) were made available to participants who had dependents in their care
(especially children up to the age of seven). For the first month after the end of the
training course, the participants could contact the course leaders for assistance with,
for example, the preparation of job applications, a business plan or an application for
a grant from their employment office. The project resulted in training being given to
306 women, 72 of whom found work within 3-10 months of completing the course
and 48 of whom started up their own business.
An integral part of the project was a series of television programmes profiling women
who had been successful in their professional life, either as employees or as the
owners of their own businesses, and who in many cases had had to reconcile their
careers with family life.
Two projects are being conducted between 1 November 2006 and 31 March 2008 by
the Ministry of Employment and Social Policy (co-financed by the European Social
Fund):
A project entitled "It's great being a businesswoman" aims to promote
entrepreneurship among women and female participation in social and professional
life. As part of this project, it is planned to make extensive use of the mass media
and interactive technologies, i.e.:
- 35-minute film segments (documentaries on women who have taken up an
economic activity and achieved professional fulfilment, and educational films
about issues associated with entrepreneurship);
- Television and radio advertisements, press articles promoting the idea of
female entrepreneurship, and billboards;
- an interactive Internet portal for women, containing a broad range of
information on entrepreneurship and tips on how to go about economic activity
and deal with formalities;
- a "freephone" infoline for people seeking advice on how to set up and manage
a business;
- at the end of the project, a compendium on entrepreneurship will be published
(in paper and multimedia form), based on the information gathered via the
Internet portal.
A project called "STEREOTYPE: equal opportunities for women and men in rural
environments” is aimed at overcoming the stereotypes which tend to limit women's
active participation in the labour market. This project comprises the following
components:
1) workshops and seminars promoting sexual equality and the concept of
entrepreneurship,
2) information meetings bringing together social partners, aimed at overcoming
the prejudices faced by women who are keen to become community leaders,
3) a concluding (summarising) conference, and
4) multimedia promotional and educational publishing.
The project is targeted at women in rural areas, taking account of their particularly
difficult situation and living conditions. 640 people have taken part in the project.
37
PORTUGAL
A. Statistics
In 200636, women accounted for 46.1% of the employed population in Portugal and
the female employment rate was 62.3%, lower than the employment rate of men
which was 73.8%.
Of the employed population in 2006, 75.3% are employees and 22.9% are selfemployed workers, of which 57.8% are men and 42.2% are women. Of the combined
employed population, 13,2% are self-employed men and 9,7% are self-employed
women. Of all self-employed workers, 76% have employees.
According to the 2006 survey of the Observatory for Enterprises Creation 37, based
upon an enquiry on 1,084 enterprises38 and 1,748 entrepreneurs, women account for
34,4% of the entrepreneurs surveyed. Of these, 29% have a university education,
which is 10% higher than the figure for male entrepreneurs. The level of academic
qualification increases as the age of the entrepreneurs decreases: 37.9% of the
female entrepreneurs into the age category of 26-35 years are educated to degreelevel.
Overall, 58.5% of all female and 49.2% of all male entrepreneurs are 35 years old or
younger.
In what concerns previous professional experience, of all the entrepreneurs
surveyed, only 18.2% of the women had previous experience as entrepreneur
compared to 40.5% of the men, 36,8% used to be employee, 20.8% were
unemployed and 6.8% were housewife.
This enquiry also highlights the fact that the majority of the new enterprises created
are formed by 2 partners (48.8%). 85.4% of the enterprises have 1 or 2 partners and
the enterprises with 5 or more partners accounted only for 1.4%.
B. Good Practices
In Portugal there are mainstream government programmes in favour of
enterprises and entrepreneurship, mainly co-financed by the European Social Fund.
General state support for SMEs is provided by governmental programmes through
technical and financial assistance. This includes the granting of loans with favourable
conditions, partial or full payment of interest, subsidies for job creation and technical
support to consolidate the business idea/plan. State support to SMEs is also
provided through the network of Business Information Centres from IAPMEI Institute for the Support to SMEs and Innovation39, business incubators as well as
36 Observatory for Employment and Vocational Training, “Aspectos Estruturais do Mercado de
Trabalho”, 2007. (www.oefp.pt)
37
IAPMEI - Institute for the Support to SMEs and Innovation, Observatory for Enterprises Creation,
2006 Enquiry results, May 2007. (www.iapmei.pt)
38 From a total of 14,464 new enterprises registered at the National Network of Centre for Enterprises
Creation in 2006.
39 www.iapmei.pt
38
Support to Enterprises Creation Centres from IEFP – Institute for Employment and
Vocational Training40.
Examples of these mainstreaming programmes are:
Programme “Manage”41 – Support (diagnosis, training, consulting services and
assistance) to increase the capacity of management and competitiveness of the
SMEs up to 50 employees. 29% of the users of this programme are women
entrepreneurs.
Programme “BIM – Bolsa de Ideias e de Meios”42 – Support (consulting services)
the entrepreneurs during the phases of build up the business idea/plan and the start
up. It aims also to facilitate the access to financing, business incubators services or
other specific programmes. From the 200 projects supported 25% were from women.
Programmes “Local Employment Initiative”, “Creation of Self-Employment” and
“Family Care Local Employment Initiative” 43 – Support the entrepreneurs
creating a new start up through training in management, recruitment of workers,
consulting services and financial assistance. In 2006, 3,080 women started their own
business under these programmes.
Although there are no specific governmental programmes for women entrepreneurs
in Portugal, some specific government measures for the development of women’s
business are being carried out.
One of the main initiatives is the measure “Support of Female Entrepreneurship”
from POEFDS - Operational Programme for Employment, Training and Social
Development44 (co-financed by the European Social Fund). This measure aims to
promote the level of participation of women in the labour market, to support the
creation of networks to promote female entrepreneurship, to support the creation and
consolidation of small and micro enterprises, to improve access to self-employment
through training and to promote the participation of women in high-technology and
financial areas. This measure includes financial support for at least 166 hours of
training in management, for consultancy/mentoring of 100 hours per woman to
consolidate the business idea, for enterprise start-up and for enterprise information
networks. Priority is given to projects that include at least the training and the
consultancy/mentoring.
In 2006, in different projects ran under this measure, 885 women received training in
management, 508 women received consultancy/mentoring to consolidate their
business idea and 311 business started up. 296 women were involved in enterprise
information networks.
40 www.iefp.pt
41
www.iapmei.pt/iapmei-bimindex.php
42
www.iapmei.pt/iapmei-bimindex.php
43
www.iefp.pt
44
POEFDS - Operational Programme for Employment, Training and Social Development, Measure 4.4
-Equal Opportunities for Men and Women, Action 4.4.2.3 - Support of Female Entrepreneurship.
(www.poefds.pt)
39
ROMANIA
Good Practices
The National Agency for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises from Romania has
continued its national programme for developing entrepreneurial culture among
women manager from the SMEs sector.
In 2006 we continued our awareness campaign for the women entrepreneurship
concept called “Women entrepreneur days” and we extended the number of cities
from seven to nine, as follows: Cluj Napoca, Sibiu, Craiova, Arad, Suceava, Targu
Mures, Bacau, Pitesti and Tulcea.
These seminars covered interesting issues such as programme description with
previous results and future activities, dissemination of 2004 WES report, presentation
of Romanian business women associations, presentation of financing sources for the
SMEs sector, dissemination of our programme’s graduates 2005 impressions and
opinions, and a very important activity in premiere: small exhibitions for women
entrepreneurs with business contacts points. Another aspect that must be
mentioned is that men entrepreneurs also attended these seminars, in a small
percentage, so we also promoted equal opportunities within our programme. Mass
media was also invited and there were numerous interviews and articles on TV and
newspapers at regional level.
The number of participants was more than 750 and they suggested increasing the
number of cities for organizing seminars and courses.
We also posted some photos on our website from these events45:
As a consequence of our promotion and awareness in the first phase, we took into
consideration the participants’ recommendations and we increased the number of
counties for 2006 session of free entrepreneurial courses from five to seven, as
follows: Braila (Braila), Vaslui (Vaslui), Bistrita- Nasaud (Bistrita),Harghita (Miercurea
Ciuc), Hunedoara (Deva), Mehedinti (Drobeta Turnu Severin) and
Prahova
(Busteni).
The courses lasted for five days and covered business modules both theoretical and
interactive as:
•Legislation
•Business plan elaboration
•Business psychology
•Communication and logistical tools
•Business assurance
•Business financing
•Basic accountancy and cash flow
•Risk management, financial and human resources management
•E-commerce
•Marketing
•Business transfer
•Franchising
45
www.mimmc.ro/programe/antreprenori_femei2006/.
40
•Public procurement
•Implementing quality standards
Each location hosted 25 participants. The eligible beneficiaries were Romanian
women, above 18 years old and elementary education graduates. Priority has been
given to country women, to ethnic minority women and to social disadvantaged
women. There was an exam and each graduate received a certificate and a course
manual. The number of graduates was 180.These courses were very much
appreciated and as a result 20 graduates started their own business, other 10 signed
partnerships and more than 50 women were promoted on their jobs to decisionmaking and managerial positions.
The third phase of our programme consisted in elaborating and publishing the
following brochures46:
1. Ten successful businesses in Romania that are managed by women.
2. SME’s ABC: How do I start up and develop my own business?
3. A successful business plan.
4. What is entrepreneurship? Is employees' training an expense or an
investment?
5. Franchising, Leasing and E-commerce
Our programme ended with its fourth phase: on 15th November 2006 we organised
in Bucharest an international conference on: “Women entrepreneurship”.
Participants were governmental and non-governmental entities involved in promoting
and supporting business environment and equal opportunities, 2005 and 2006
course graduates and also international bodies (associations, networks,
governmental agencies a.s.o.) that promote women entrepreneurship.
We also published and disseminated our surveys about women entrepreneurship in
Romania, printed into Romanian and English. These surveys contain very useful and
important figures and statistics about women entrepreneurships and can be
downloaded for free in an electronic format accessing the following site:
www.mimmc.ro/programe/sondaj_antreprenoriat_feminin/.
The conference had a huge impact in our country and it was attended by over 120
participants. Good practices in promoting women entrepreneurship were discussed
and our programme received very positive feedback.
More information as well as details, articles and photos of this event can be seen at:
www.mimmc.ro/programe/fotogal2006/ .
Our programme contributed to consolidate women entrepreneurship in Romania that
is why NASMEC will continue it in 2007. Furthermore we shall promote, as we did
before, all useful information about programmes, conferences, seminars and other
events that support women entrepreneurship at national and international level.
46
www.mimmc.ro/programe/antreprenoriat_feminin_brosuri/.
41
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
A. Statistics
The Slovak Republic has become one of the strongest economic performers in
Central Europe. Following major economic reforms, it is now enjoying remarkable
economic growth. Spurred by major new automobile plants, GDP growth soared to
8.3 % in 2006 and is expected to remain around this rate year, before easing back to
about 5.3 % in 2008. This growth has contributed to employment expansion, bringing
down the number of people out of work. (Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic)
B. Good Practices
The European EQUAL Community Initiative, operating within the framework of
European Employment Strategy forms one of Community’s initiatives focusing on
elimination and alleviation of all forms of discrimination and inequality in the labour
market. Moreover, it provides the opportunity for development, verification and
application of new integrated approaches, the results of which are to be incorporated
into employment and inclusion policy formation of the Slovak Republic.
Its main objective is to create conditions and provide the opportunity for seeking,
testing and applying new innovative approaches in resolving problems occurring
while combating all forms of discrimination and inequalities in the labour market. As
part of this Initiative, all Member States have agreed on common thematic fields, on
which they wish to cooperate, and to learn from one another.
TRATOKI – INTERREG IIIC East Individual Project; Main goal: TRATOKI explores
options to improve access to finance for SME. Theme of cooperation: SME
development and Entrepreneurship. Duration until December 2006.
TRATOKI (Transregional Toolkit for Micro Enterprises) was a project designed to
help SMEs by creating instruments to support enterprises, setting up mentoring
programmes and advising on access to finance, offering guidance with
businessplans to business start-ups and micro-enterprises, and facilitating cross
border cooperation in particular between old and new EU Member States.
On 7 August 2007 a new scheme of State Aid for the Support of Regional
Development no. 1621/2007-1000 entered into force. Granting of State Aid as of
January 1st, 2007 follows legal regulations of the Slovak Republic and legal
standards of the European Union for Regional Aid strategy for 2007-2013. The aim is
to bridge the period up to adoption of new legal regulation applied to granting State
Aid to enterprises in the form of investment incentives.
Tourism is not among the sectors which in the past contributed to the nonperforming loans in banks; on the other hand, it has added value, something which is
not typical of the current export structure. Since tourism enterprises are often forced
to pay their debts in advance and in cash, they have added neither to the enormous
growth in company indebtedness, nor to the high volume of risky loans.
There is support for the introduction of quality systems at tourism facilities,
through professional associations, specialised certification of enterprises, state and
self-government institutions, etc., in order to improve the quality of all products and
services.
42
Cooperation between institutions in the area of nature and landscape conservation for example, the Slovak Caves Administration (SSJ), the State Nature Protection of
the Slovak Republic (ŠOP SR), etc. – and municipalities situated in protected areas;
contribute to the production of promotional materials on nature, to the establishment
of educational trails, education guides, etc. A communication Strategy Manual has
been developed in order to be used for communication between conservationists and
entrepreneurs in the field of tourism. (term: 2005 – 2013)
43
SLOVENIA
A. Statistics
The fact that there are less female than male entrepreneurs in Slovenia clearly
demonstrates that women entrepreneurs are still a minority target group.
The main conclusion of the gender based research47 is that the percentage of women
entrepreneurs is still below that of the male entrepreneur. Women entrepreneurs in
Slovenia do not have to cope with stereotypes regarding their career as an
entrepreneur and there are no legal obstacles for women entrepreneurship; still
women are less likely to choose a path of entrepreneurship than men.
Predomination of men entrepreneurs in Slovenia is obvious in all age groups; the
biggest difference in gender being in the group of start-ups - 3,7:1 men to women,
while throughout the whole early entrepreneurial activity the numbers are closer to
3:1. There is a negative trend in comparison with the year 2005, when the proportion
was 2:1. While the earliest entrepreneurial activity among men is between ages 25
to 34, the same activity takes place among women in ages 35 to 44. The biggest
difference between men and women is in the age group from 18 – 24 years: 13,8:1
men to women. With age the difference is reduced to a ratio 3,9:1 and it is less
favorable in age group from 35 to 44 years, when it is “just” 1,7: 1 (men to women).
It is concluded that the less frequent participation of women in the area of
entrepreneurship is due to the fact that women are over-occupied as it is, there is
absence of family support, lack of quality services for child care (especially in the
afternoon) and also a lack of support mechanisms which would take into
consideration the actual needs of women entrepreneurs. Promotion of women
entrepreneurship should be complemented with several actions for real equal
inclusion of men and women into entrepreneurship.
B. Good practices
The Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments is a
government institution which plays an important role for greater impact on women
entrepreneurs that is a special target group since 1999.
The Program for Promotion of Entrepreneurship for Women involved 1.600
women with a purpose not just to inform but also to: stimulate and work with women
who think about entrepreneurship as a choice in their career path, taking into
consideration their specific needs and possibilities for improving their economic
situation and position in society. In the program they receive information about:
business registration, start-up problems, support of the close social environment,
finding resources, creating business plan ideas, searching about specific information,
stereotyping, making business opportunities, etc. In this year 222 business ideas
were generated as a result of the program (with possibility to register in national
business plan competition), 44 business plans were made, 14 new start-ups began to
be active, some of the participating women were employed in different companies
and 5 new business co-operations among women entrepreneurs where established.
Due to regional meetings, networking in clubs for women entrepreneurs began all
Gender – based statistics research by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for 2006. The
Institute for Entrepreneurship and Management has been monitoring the results for SMEs since 2002.
47
44
over Slovenia. 3 women initiatives were created and role models were involved in
simulation.
The activities of the program were the following:
1. Training and motivation workshops for potential women entrepreneurs,
women entrepreneurs and employed women in companies and women
entrepreneurship promoters.
Over 100 women participated at 7 motivation workshops in Ljubljana on several
themes: management, motivation, team work, trade marks, marketing paths,
management, EU sources. The result was 1 employment and ongoing meetings in
the club of women managers in 2007;
Also 46 women entrepreneurs, who established companies in 2005 and others who
showed an interest to participate in specialized trainings, had an opportunity to show
their products and services. The topics were the following: taxes, accounting, law,
employment and searching for business opportunities. The result was a network of
women entrepreneurs.
A two days training was also organized for 17 people with a visit at a Graz incubator
for women entrepreneurs (Austria). The topics discussed were the following: new
opportunities, incubating ideas, management at work, project leadership, networking,
e-networking, good practices, mentoring and developing the methodology of
networking.
2. Encouragement of women employment with new start-ups.
On the basis of a selection of unemployed women from all over Slovenia, the 60
most suitable for entrepreneurship where selected for training; 44 of them concluded
80-hours entrepreneurship training activities. All of them developed business ideas
with business plans;
3. Information sessions.
The agency provided information and counseling by telephone and by e-mail to 658
women. Three round tables were organized that were attended by over 100 women.
The purpose was to provide information on the following areas: women and support
environment for business, women and modern work and employment possibilities,
work at home and business manners.
4. Organization of local entrepreneurial meetings.
Several workshops were carried out on regional /local level all over Slovenia. The
purpose was to motivate women about entrepreneurship by presenting role models.
There are also some important Equal projects running in Slovenia, like:
- Equal sipa - system of organized help in households; the project deals with the
traditional role between men and women where women take the nursing roles and
they have less time for other roles.
- Family-kind entrepreneurship – www.equal-mladematere.si works on the relation
towards parents in the working place.
45
SPAIN
A. Statistics
According to figures obtained with the Economically Active Population Survey during
the last trimester of 2006, women represent over 31% of the entrepreneurial
fabric. At a steady rate, it has a 1% increase compared to the figures detailed in
2005 WES report.
B. Good Practices
1. Entrepreneurial Support for Women” Programme (PAEM)48 Its main
objective is to sensitise women and their social environment to self-employment and
business activity. The programme is developed through a network of Technical
Support Offices that have been set up in the 55 participating Chambers of
Commerce and provide the following services: business information, consultancy and
orientation regarding business matters, set up of a strategy to sensitise and
encourage business ventures, and support the creation and consolidation of
European and transnational networks. The companies that were created in this
framework are micro-enterprises that basically focus their activity in the servicesproducing sector, especially in retail commerce. Since 2001, this programme also
provides an ‘on-line’ consultancy service at www.e-empresarias.net. One of the
objectives of empresarias.net is to access to certain women sectors that due to their
circumstances do not usually turn to face-to-face offices, such as the case of rural
women, students, successful businesswomen, and users from different countries of
origin.
2. Programme for Training, Creation and Business Management, and for
Business Set up and Consolidation.49
In 2006 two training programmes were organised that are directed to
businesswomen interested in consolidating their enterprises, in improving profitability,
or in evaluating other expansion alternatives. The programmes were also targeted to
enterprising women with a solid entrepreneurial project.
3. Internet Portal for Businesswomen50: www.soyempresaria.com
It aims to create a meeting and exchange point for enterprising and/or women
entrepreneurs, as well as for Entrepreneurial Organizations and Institutions that
represent them. Besides strictly entrepreneurial services, such as Permanent
Entrepreneurial Stands, where products and services are exhibited and
commercialised, other training spaces have been developed and expanded. Such is,
the Virtual Classroom, where general content courses are offered and adapted
accordingly to their real needs and demands. It also has an on-line consultancy
service for any management and entrepreneurial development matter. The Virtual
Classroom developed training areas related to logistics, communication, marketing,
finance, computer technology applied to business management, self-employment.
It is important to highlight the Live Television Programme: 'Our Experiences',
which permits exchanging entrepreneurial experiences and concerns. Besides this,
48
By the Spanish Institute for Women
Spanish Institute for Women’s programme
50
Spanish Institute for Women’s programme
49
46
there are other communication services, such as the Forum or Current Situation
Bulletin, the TV news, and the Video Archive and Library. During 2006, new
contents were included. There is a Job Opportunity section where users of the
Virtual Site can post their offers and demands, and “Son Ellas”, a new monthly
programme that attempts, since January, to create business management referents.
The following programmes were broadcasted throughout 2006: “Our Experiences”
Programme. A meeting point were consolidated entrepreneurial women talk about
their experiences and advise enterprising women who are starting off their projects.
“Son Ellas” Programme (It is Them). It has the same format as “Our Experiences”,
and the protagonists are women in directing posts in different business areas. Round
Table on Ecological and Appellation of Origin Products, held in the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on January 26th of 2006. Monographic Fair of
Food, held in the ‘Beatrice Potter’ Fairgrounds of the Virtual
4. Tutoring Programme for Enterprises51
This Spanish Institute for Women’s programme has provided personalized
technical assessment in training areas and business management to women
beneficiaries during 2006. The objective was to foment entrepreneurial consolidation
and competitiveness by eliminating financial risk, especially during the initial phase of
the activity. Women entrepreneurs receive tutorials at their homes within a timetable
compatible with their activity. The content is adapted to their specific needs and by
the end of the action each businesswoman receives a Business Improvement Plan.
5. Financial Support for Enterprising Women
In order to foment women’s self-employment labour integration and to support the
start up of companies and the consolidation of business initiatives, the Spanish
Institute for Women awarded grants for self-employment, “Female
Enterprising”52 One of the requirements is to carry out an activity related to one of
the sectors considered by the Order (family-work life balance, services for people
with disabilities, new technologies, environment, industry and construction). Priority is
given to the following collectives in order to favour labour integration of women in risk
of social exclusion: women with disability, 45 year old unemployed women or older
and long-term unemployed, immigrants, heads of single-parent families and victims
of violence. The micro-credits programme53provides specific assessment and
financing for the start up phase, promotion and financial support to entrepreneurial
projects carried out by women by awarding them micro-credits without guarantee
requirement. It is targeted to enterprising or entrepreneur women who have started
up their activity in the past year or less, or exceptionally in the past two years. Microcredits are granted as long as it is not refinancing. The SME consolidation and
Competitiveness Plan54 is managed by DGPYME and provides aid to make small
firms more competitive and improve their job and wealth creation capacity. It seeks
primarily to encourage the take-up of new information and communication
technologies and provides special coverage to support projects for female business
owners. The ICO micro-loan facility55generates funds for the issuing of small loans
to micro-companies or individuals lacking the background and repayment guarantees
to apply through the standard financing channels. It is thus targeted at specific
groups such as women, those aged over 45, the disabled, immigrants, etc.
Spanish Institute for Women’s Programme also
Spanish Institute for Women’s Programme also
53
By the Spanish Institute for Women and the General Directorate for SME Policy
54
http://www.ipyme.org
55
http://www.ico.es
51
52
47
SWEDEN
A. Statistics
More women among new entrepreneurs
Most small-business entrepreneurs are men. 79 percent of Swedish smallbusiness entrepreneurs are men and 21 percent women. If, on the other hand, we
look at the share of new entrepreneurs who are women, we find a less uneven
distribution. A little more than 30 percent of new entrepreneurs are women and a
little more than 60 percent men, while about six percent of new firms are run by
women and men together. The fact that the share of women running new companies
is considerably higher than the share of women running companies in general can be
interpreted as indicating a gradual decrease in the uneven sex distribution among
entrepreneurs.
Both women and men mostly run service companies
The majority of Swedish companies operate in the service sector. This dominance
applies both to companies run by women and companies run by men. 64 percent of
women and 63 percent of men who run companies do so in the service sector.
Trading companies are the next largest sector and manufacturing companies the
smallest. This is true in the case of both women and men, even if their shares differ
in size to some extent. A somewhat larger share of women than men run trading
companies, while a somewhat lower share of women than men run manufacturing
companies. Sole trader is the most common type of company. Men more often than
women tend to run limited liability companies, 56 percent compared to 38 percent.
The choice of company type is governed by several different circumstances, for
example capital requirements and company size. This usually has to do with the
business sector in which the company operates. Besides limited liability company,
two other types of companies are sole trader and trading, or limited, partnership.
Approximately one out of ten small enterprises is operated as a trading, or limited,
partnership. By far the most common ways of engaging in business are to be a sole
trader or to run a limited liability company. Sole traders are dominant among
businesses run by one person, while the share of limited liability companies
increases the larger enterprises we study. This applies to both women and men.
Both women and men entrepreneurs usually focus on the local market
Statistics show that both companies run by women and companies run by men are
primarily oriented towards the local market. This market orientation is somewhat
greater among companies run by women, 67 percent, than among companies run by
men, 56 percent. A main reason for differences in company market orientation
between the sexes its that women and men often run companies in different business
sectors. A large group, which comprises 20 percent of women entrepreneurs and 28
percent of men entrepreneurs, are mainly interested in the national market. When we
look at the international market, 14 percent of women entrepreneurs and 16 percent
of men entrepreneurs indicate that there is no clear sex difference here. The age
structure of small-business entrepreneurs and how it differs between women and
men is that the former tends to be younger than the latter. The largest share of
women entrepreneurs, 32 percent, is to be found in the age category 41–50,
while the largest share of men entrepreneurs, 37 percent, is to be found in the age
48
category 51–60. We also find that one out of four women entrepreneurs, but only one
out of five men entrepreneurs, is 40 or younger.
(Statistics from Nutek’s survey “Women’s and men’s enterprise in Sweden-a
statistical description” November 2006).
B. Good practices
In Sweden we work with promoting women’s entrepreneurship on the national,
regional and local level.
Nutek is the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, a governmental
body which among many other national programs also runs the two programs on
'Promoting women’s entrepreneurship' and 'Resource centres for women'.
The programs co-finance projects targeted to women who are interested in starting a
company and running a company.
Nutek also works at developing knowledge for and about women as entrepreneurs.
Nutek is spreading the knowledge by financing projects that uses the information
material where the expert knowledge is published and integrated.
During 2006 the program Promoting women’s entrepreneurship had a budget of 6,5
million SEK . Close to 40 projects received grants and a couple of conferences for
business advisors have been organised. The aim of the conferences was to keep
the advisors updated regarding new research and knowledge.
Nutek has published during the year 2006 a book on Women’s and men’s
enterprise in Sweden, A statistical description, Classification and perception An
explorative Investigation of Gender Effects of the Swedish SIC Code as a
Classification Tool of Industry. Nutek R 2005:17 and Home party –a good
business? About women’s conditions in the home party sector. (only in Swedish).
During 2005 Nutek has published a book on both business owner and employee and
a booklet on 'Why shall women start a business'? During 2006 Nutek organised a
tour to ten different towns where the authors presented their work in seminars that
were very much appreciated.
In December 2006 the Swedish government assigned Nutek to suggest a new three
year program 2007-2009 Promoting women’s entrepreneurship. The government
has decided a budget of 100 million SEK per year.
Nutek budget during 2006 for basic organisation to Resource centres for women was
15 million SEK and grants for 50 % of the cost of projects were 36 million SEK. Up to
80% of the projects in 2006 focused on promoting business and entrepreneurship
among women.
49
TURKEY
Good Practices
The participation of women in entrepreneurship training and consulting programmes
organized by KOSGEB (Small and Medium Sized Industry OrganizationEntrepreneurship Development Centre) (1) was relatively high (30%) compared with
the number of women who choose to become entrepreneurs after completing these
programs.
To encourage women to set up their businesses the project “Supporting Women
Entrepreneurship” has been presented and approved within the framework of the
EU-Turkey Financial Assistance Programme in 2006. This project addresses the low
participation of women in Turkey’s economic life. Its objective is to promote women
entrepreneurship in two parts: 1- the provision of management training and
consultancy to women who wish to start up their own businesses, and 2- support for
the establishment of business incubators.
The 1st part is carried out by TESK (Turkish Confederation of Craftsmen and
Tradesmen) (2): 4500 women will be trained and 1500 women will receive consultancy
on entrepreneurship related issues by 2009 at 25 training centres nation-wide.
The 2nd part is carried out by KOSGEB: support by a minimum of 80 businesses at
four incubators, -located in Pendik/İSTANBUL, Hacibektaş/NEVŞEHİR, ÇORUM and
KÜTAHYA- for women entrepreneurs who want to either start-up or develop their
businesses. Incubating services - such as office space, common use of equipment,
consulting, networking – will be provided by 2009.
KAGİDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association) (3), is a non-profit NGO that has 142
members from various sectors, including textile, communications, human resources,
tourism, chemicals, mining and health. The main activities carried out by this
organisation in 2006 were the following:
 Women Entrepreneurs Development Program: (Women Entrepreneurship
Centre, Water Drop, Bridge For Women) aims to support women candidates
to start-up small enterprises including entrepreneurship trainings, mentoring
support, incubation support and internship opportunities.
 Women’s Fund: 159.935 Euro were received from donators. Six projects are
supported in 2006 with a max. amount of 30.000 Euro per project.


Women’s Way to Europe: an international conference was organized on
25-26 May 2006 in Istanbul with the aim to accelerate the negotiation process
and improve the socio-economic position of women in Turkey
WE-MENTOR Project has been developed to give opportunities for women
entrepreneurs to get involved in European research projects under the 7 th
Framework Programme.
KSGM (Turkish Republic Prime Ministry General Directorate on the Status of
Women)(4) has continued its activities in 2006 as mentioned below:
 The Commission on the Status of Women has decided to develop a ‘women’s
policy of Turkey’ given priory to women employment, promotion of women
50

entrepreneurship and access to credit and micro-credit at the meetings held in
June and October 2006.
A letter with information on micro-credit was sent to 81 provinces nation -wide
in order to inform poor women how they could benefit from micro-credit.
The TOBB (Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey) (5) is the
agency responsible for co-ordinating the EU-supported ABIGEM (EU Business
Development Centres) Project (6).
The 2006 activities of the 3 ABIGEMs include:



50 women entrepreneurs participated in the meeting “Meet in İzmir – Network”
organized by UNCTAD/WTO in November 2006.
“SMEs Support and Strategic Development for Women Entrepreneurs”
project was formed in cooperation with ITC (International Trade Centre) aiming
at improving women’s economic status.
Training seminars to inform women about entrepreneurship were organized in
the Southeastern region of Turkey.
With the support of 19 ÇATOMs (Multi-purpose Community Centres), 153 women
found jobs and 13 women launched 8 enterprises of their own in 2006.
GAP-GIDEM (GAP-Entrepreneur Support Centre)(7) is an EU-funded SME
development project, executed by UNDP (United Nations Development Program) in
cooperation with GAP Regional Development Administration. GIDEM services are
delivered through their local offices located in the four provincial capitals of the GAP
Region: Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Mardin and Şanlıurfa.
The “Promotion of female entrepreneurship in GAP region” project has been
carried out by GAP-GİDEM. Its purpose is to increase business and employment
created by women entrepreneurs. A training program on small business
management and marketing was organized in February 2006 in Mardin.
A workshop on National Women’s Entrepreneurship Centre was organized on 9
February 2006 in İstanbul.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
www.girisimciliknetwork.gen.tr
www.tesk.org.tr
www.kagider.org
www.kssgm.gov.tr
www.tobb.org.tr
www.abigem.org
www.gap.gov.tr
51
UNITED KINGDOM
A. Statistics
Women make up 51% of the UK population and 46% of those active in the labour
market, but they are the largest under represented group in terms of participation in
enterprise and offer a wealth of untapped talent and economic opportunity.
Despite some progress in recent years, the gap between male and female
entrepreneurship in the UK remains stubbornly wide – men are still almost twice as
likely to start businesses as women, and the gap is wider still for young women. If
the UK matched US levels of female entrepreneurship there would be 700,000 more
businesses in the UK.
Around 750 thousand enterprises in the UK are majority-led by women. This
figure represents 17% of the 4.5 million UK enterprises. Women-owned businesses
currently contribute about £60 billion to Gross Value Added. About one million
women are self-employed (which corresponds to 27% of all the self-employed in the
UK) and this number has increased by around 9% over the last four years. There are
encouraging signs that many more of the UK’s new entrepreneurs are women: 36%
of the newly self-employed are women compared to just 27% of those currently
self-employed.
B. Good Practices
The Task Force on Women’s Enterprise was established in November 2006 to
accelerate the UK further towards US levels of female entrepreneurship. It is CoChaired by Pam Alexander (CEO SEEDA) and Glenda Stone (CEO Aurora), with
members drawn from the private, public and voluntary sectors.
The Task Force’s remit is to:
(a)
(b)
(c)
advise Government, Regional Development Agencies, and the private sector
on how the economic contribution of women’s enterprise can be increased in
the UK;
identify issues and barriers to more women starting and growing their
business and how they might be addressed; and
provide advocacy – Task Force members will lobby and raise the profile of the
women’s enterprise agenda.
A national network of 1,000 female entrepreneur ambassadors has been
established. The Ambassadors are being recruited and mobilised by Regional
Development Agencies and Enterprise Insight to work alongside the Task Force.
The ambassadors will be used to inspire and support women in setting up their own
businesses. The programme will focus on targeting women in disadvantaged
communities and in areas where self-employment rates are lower than average.
The UK Government funded National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship are
running a programme for women who have graduated from a UK university within the
past 10 years who are thinking of setting up their own business. It includes a year of
52
online mentoring and support as well as a 3-day intensive business readiness
course.
Regional Development Agencies are assessing and implementing the lessons from
pilot projects testing different approaches to supporting the start-up and growth of
female-owned businesses.
How will success be measured?
Success on the development of women’s enterprise will be measured through an
increase in:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
the gross value added contribution to the UK Economy by women owned
businesses;
the number of women owned businesses in the UK; and
the average turnover of women owned businesses;
total entrepreneurial activity.
53
ANNEX 1
LIST OF WES MEMBERS
WES – “European Network to promote Women´s Entrepreneurship”
AUSTRIA
Mrs. Karina Brugger-Kometer
Bundesministerium für Gesundheit und Frauen
Abt. II/3
Radetzkystr. 2
1010 Wien
Austria
Tel: + 43 1 711 00 34 17
Fax: + 43 1 711 00 3418
e-mail: karina.brugger-kometer@bmgf.gv.at
BELGIUM
Mrs. Caroline Meyers
Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap
ESF - Agentschap
Gasthuisstraat 31 (9°)
1000 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: + 32 2 546 22 34
Fax: + 32 2 546 22 40
e-mail: caroline.meyers@ewbl.vlaanderen.be
Mrs. Françoise Goffinet
Institut pour l’égalité des femmes et des
hommes
Rue Ernest Blerot 1
1070 Bruxelles
Belgique
Tel: + 32 2 233 41 95
Fax : + 32 2 233 40 32
e-mail: goffinet@meta.fgov.be
BULGARIA
Mrs. Lyudmila Sugareva
Head of Monitoring Department
‘Intermediate Body and Projects Implementation’ General Directorate
Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency
1, Sveta Nedelya Sq.
1000 Sofia
Bulgaria
Tel. (+359) 2 9329211
Fax: (+359) 2 9805 869
e-mail: l.sugareva@sme.government.bg
54
CZECH REPUBLIC
Mrs. Jaroslava Kubů
Deputy Director
Department of Small and Medium– Sized
Enterprise Promotion
Ministry of Industry and Trade
Na Františku 32
110 15 Praha 1
Czech Republic
Tel: + 420 224 062 172
Fax: + 420 224 063 240
e-mail: kubu@mpo.cz
Website: www.mpo.cz
CYPRUS
Mr. Sotiris Milikouris
Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Cyprus
Andrea Araouzou, 6
1421 Nicosia
Cyprus
Tel: + 357 22 86 71 80
Fax: + 357 22 37 55 41
e-mail: smilikouris@mcit.gov.cy
Website: www.mcit.gov.cy
DENMARK
Ms. Ib Kjöller
Erhvervs - og Boligstyrelsen
Dahlerups Pakhus
Langelinie Allé 17
2100 København Ø
Danmark
Tel: + 45 35 46 63 41
e-mail: ik@ebst.dk
ESTONIA
Ms. Kärt Vanaveski
Executive Officer of Enterprise Division in Economic Development Department
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications
Harju 11
Tallinn 15072
Estonia
Tel: + 372 625 6416
Fax: +372 631 3660
e-mail: Kart.Vanaveski@mkm.ee
55
FINLAND
Mrs. Tuulikki Laine-Kangas
Project Manager
Employment and Economic Development Center
Huhtalantie 2
60220 Seinäjoki
Finland
Tel. + 358 400 669 466
Fax + 358 (0) 6 416 3616
e-mail: tuulikki.laine-kangas@te-keskus.fi
Website: www.ktm.fi / www.te-keskus.fi
FRANCE
Mr. Jean-Michel VERN
Ministère des PME
Direction du commerce, de l'artisanat, des
services et des professions libérales
Bureau de la Politique sociale
3 - 5 rue Barbet de Jouy 75353 Paris 07 SP
Tel : 01.43.19.54.62
e-mail: jean-michel.vern@dcaspl.pme.gouv
GERMANY
Mrs. Annette Rueckert
Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und
Arbeit
Grundsatzfragen der Mittelstandspolitik
Scharnhorststraße 34-37
10115 Berlin
Germany:
Fax: + 49 30 2014 7056
e-mail: anette.rueckert@bmwa.bund.de
website: www.bmwa.bund.de
Mrs. Eveline von Gässler
Bundesministerium für Bildung und
Forschung
Heinemannstraße 2
53175 Bonn
Germany
Tel: + 49 228 57 25 24
Fax: + 49 228 57 29 01
e-mail: Eveline.Gaessler@bmbf.bund.de
56
GREECE
Mrs. Eugenia Tsoumani
Secretary General for Gender Equality
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration
and Decentralization
Dragatsaniou 8 street,
Place Klafthmonos
Athens 10559
Greece
Tel: +30 210 331 53 45-6
Fax: +30 210 323 13 16
e-mail: etsoumani@isotita.gr
HUNGARY
Mrs. Judit Mészáros-Hallasz
Ministry of Youth, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
Akadémia u. 3.
1051 Budapest
Hungary
Tel: + 36 12 35 46 50
Fax: +36 12 35 45 03
e-mail: halasz.judit@icsszem.hu
ICELAND
Mrs. Kristin Karlsdottir
Ministry of Industry and Commerce
Arnarhvall
150 Reykjavik
Iceland
Tel: + 354 545 8500
Fax: + 354 562 1289
e-mail: kristin.karlsdottir@ivr.stjr.is
Website: www.ivr.is
IRELAND
Mrs. Sarah O'Callaghan
Enterprise Ireland
Technology House
Glasnevin
Dublin 9
Ireland
Tel: + 353 1 808 2377
e-mail: sarah.ocallaghan@enterprise-ireland.com
Website: www.enterprise-ireland.com
57
ITALY
Mrs. Silvana Serafin
Ministry of Productive Activities
D.G.C.I.I. - Ufficio Imprenditoria Femminile
Via del Giorgione 2b
00147 Roma
Italy
Tel:+39 06 54 92 78 35
Fax: +39 06 54 92 77 31
e-mail: silvana.serafin@sviluppoeconomico.gov.it
Mrs. Teresa Capece Galeota
Industrial Promotion Institute
Viale Pilsudki 124
00 197 Roma
Italy
Tel: + 39 06 80 97 22 72
Fax: + 39 06 80 97 23 36
e-mail: capece@ipi.it
Website: www.ipi.it
LATVIA
Ms. Karīna Šuste
Ministry of Economics
Republic of Latvia
Brivibas street 55
Riga, LV-1519
Latvia
Tel: +371 7013157
Fax:+3717280882
e-mail: Karina.Suste@em.gov.lv
LITHUANIA
Mrs. Živilė Krisčiūnienė,
Head of Small and Medium Business Department:
Ministry of Economy
01104 Vilnius
Lithuania
Tel: +370 5 262 88 13
Fax : + 370 5 262 39 74
e-mail : z.krisciuniene@ukmin.lt.
58
LUXEMBOURG
Mrs. Bernadette Friederici-Carabin
Conseiller de Direction 1ère classe
Ministère des Classes Moyennes, du Tourisme et du Logement
6, avenue Emile Reuter
2937 Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Tel : + 352 478 4713
Fax : + 352 478 4740
e-mail: bernadette.friederici@cmt.etat.lu
Website : www.mcm.public.lu
MALTA
Ms. Lucy Pace Gouder,
Executive (Gender Equality)
Employment and Training Corporation
Head Office,
Hal Far
MALTA
Tel: +356 2220 1122
Fax: +356 2220 1802
e-mail: lucy.pace-gouder@gov.mt
THE NETHERLANDS
Mrs. Aukje Visser
The Netherlands' Ministry of Economic Affairs (C/312)
p.o. box 20 101
2500 EC Den Haag
Netherlands
Tel: + 31 70 379 7325
Fax: + 31 70 379 75 27
e-mail: a.w.visser@minez.nl
Website: www.ez.nl
NORWAY
Mrs. Anne Marie Kittelsen
Seniorrådgiver, Entreprenørskap
Innovasjon Norge
Postboks 448 Sentrum
0104 Oslo
Norway
Tel: + 47 22 00 27 15
Fax: + 47 22 42 32 14
e-mail: anne.marie.kittelsen@invanor.no
Website : www.invanor.no
59
POLAND
Mrs. Elzbieta Bagińska
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Labour
Enterpreneurship Department
Plac Trzech Krzyzy 3/5
00-507 Warsaw
Poland
Tel: + 48 22 693 56 94
Fax: + 48 22 693 40 23
e-mail: Elzbieta.Baginska@mg.gov.pl
Website: www.mgip.gov.pl
PORTUGAL
Mrs. Anita Sares and Rita Abrantes
Comissão Para A Igualdade No Trabalho E No Emprego
Av. da República, 44 -2º e 5º
1069-033 Lisboa
Portugal
Tel: + 351 21 780 37 00
Fax: + 351 21 796 03 32 /21 780 12 03
e-mail: anita.sares@cite.gov.pt ; r.abrantes@cite.gov.pt
Website: www.cite.gov.pt
ROMANIA
Mrs Mihaela Manuela Cristea
National Agency for Small and Medium Sized
Enterprises and Cooperatives
Poterasi Street no.11, Sector 4,
040263 Bucharest
Romania
Tel: + 40 021 336 14 67
Fax: + 40 021 336 18 43
e-mail: mihaela.cristea@mimmc.ro
Website: www.mimmc.ro
SLOVAC REPUBLIC
Mrs Agata Stoláriková
Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic
Strategy Creation and support entrepreneurship
Mierová n° 19
827 15 Bratislava
Slovak Republic
Tel: + 421 4854 1613
Fax: + 421 4854 3613
e-mail: Stolarikova@economy.gov.sk
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SLOVENIA
Ms. Valentina Lozar
Public Agency of Republic of Slovenia for
Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments
Dunajska cesta 156
SI-1000 Ljubljana Slovenia
Tel: +386 1 589 18 88
Fax: +386 1 589 18 77
e-mail: valentina.lozar@japti.si
Website: www.japti.si
SPAIN
Mrs Teresa Blat Gimeno
Instituto de la Mujer
Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales
C/ Condesa Venadito, 34
28027 Madrid
Spain
Tel: + 34 91 363 80 28
Fax: + 34 91 363 80 73
e-mail: teresablat@mtas.es
Website: www.mtas.es/mujer
Mrs. Pilar Vázquez Amedo
Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y
Comercio - Dirección General de Política
de la PYME
C/ María de Molina, 50 - 2ª planta
28006 Madrid
Spain
Tel: + 34 91 545 09 17
Fax: + 34 91 545 09 40
e-mail: pvamedo@ipyme.org
Website: www.ipyme.org
SWEDEN
Mrs. Marianne Karlberg
Economic development manager
Municipal Executive Administration
Department for Economic and Sustainable Development
S-631 86 Eskilstuna
Sweden
Tel: +46 16 710 22 14
Cellphone +46 70 247 74 96
e-mail: marianne.karlberg@eskilstuna.se
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TURKEY
Mr. Tarik Ferizoglu
Ms. Serpil Yücesoy
KOSGEB
Enterpreneurship Development Centre
Abdülhak Hamid Cad. No: 866
06470 - Altmışevler Ankara
Turkey
Tel: + 90 312 368 87 00
Fax: + 90 312 370 43 54
e-mail: mferizoglu@kosgeb.gov.tr
Syucesoy@kosgeb.gov.tr
Website: www.girisimciliknetwork.gen.tr
UNITED KINGDOM
Mr. Bill Hallahan
Assistant Director
Small Business Service
Department of Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
Bay 183
1 Victoria St.
London SW1E 6SW
UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7215 6104
e-mail: Bill.Hallahan@dti.gsi.gov.uk
Enterprise and Industry Directorate General
Mr. Christian Weinberger
European Commission
B – 1049 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32 2 295 53 05
Fax: +32 2 296 62 78
e-mail: christian.weinberger @ec.europa.eu
Ms. Anna Danti
European Commission
B - 1049 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32 2 296 54 82
Fax: + 32 2 296 62 78
e-mail: anna.danti@ec.europa.eu
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